


Beauty and the Beast

by TheRainisnotClear



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:15:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRainisnotClear/pseuds/TheRainisnotClear
Summary: A Prince cursed to remain a Beast for the rest of his life.. until a young Beauty comes along to help him break his curse.Will she be able to love him enough to help break the spell?What other secrets lie ahead for them as they work together to break the spell...WARNING: Mention of torture and violence
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Chi-Chi & Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Launch/Raditz (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 51
Kudos: 71





	1. Prologue

The dark corners of the moon can be seen high in the sky along with all the stars. Seems like a beautiful night…

One would think so, but this night is neither pleasant nor silent as in a distance there are loud cries being heard throughout the mountainside…

In front is a large manor, beautifully crafted with white marble that shines as bright as the moon itself, and yet with all the beauty that is seen… there is only misery…

Footsteps can be heard throughout the hallways of the manor by not one single figure -but three- who were making their way towards the main hallways that connected to the front doors of the manor. The main figure, although looked small, was really a deadly man with a wide sick grin on his face. His two loyal servants were on each side following him.

The doors opened to reveal five dark figures who were excitedly waiting for their masters orders. Each of them with twisted smirks spread across their faces as they watched the alpha minion violently snatch the small framed man, yanking him to the ground, and began to drag him by the ankles, dragging along with his bloodied face. The dark man stopped, turning the small man's body around, and began to drag him by his hair, dropping him in front of the slithering figure, his master, who gave the man a wide deadly smirk.

“My... my…” The evil man said as he walked over to the defeated body, grabbing him by the hair; making the man look directly at the monster who had brought danger onto his own home.

“Did you really think that you were going to get away with it?” His wicked smirk slowly turned into a frown that sent chills to the poor man.

“I’m afraid your time is up King Vegeta. If you cannot give me what I want…” His smirk grew once again, “ Then you must pay the price!” He screamed as he slammed the man’s face hard onto the floor as a loud crack echoed throughout the whole room.

“YOU BASTARD!”

The dark man had turned to see one of his own minions losing control over another younger looking boy who looked almost exactly like the man with similar handsome features. He was giving him an intense, dark glare with his onyx eyes that appeared to shine a deep shade crimson red, like blood.

The dark man smiled as he walked over to the boy, enjoying the view of his soon-to-be ex-accomplice son struggling to get out of the grips of his henchmen. The young man’s teeth were baring out like a canine ready to attack.

“Now, now, Prince Vegeta, I was only trying to teach your father a lesson that he has still yet to learn.” He grinned, which subsequently angered the young boy further.

“Like Hell you are!!” Prince Vegeta shouted, “Was it enough to have my own mother and brother killed just for your own amusement!? You sick son of a-”

Prince Vegeta fell to his knees as his left torso was stabbed by the sharp claws of the monster whom he had always loathed his whole life. He looked up to the dark man with an immeasurable amount of disgust and hate that even seeped into his watery eyes. This man who had brought nothing but an unfathomable amount of destruction and misery onto him and his family.

_Frieza_

“Not to worry my young Prince…” Frieza chuckled “ I will be saving you for last.” He smirked as he kneeled down closer to the angry boy. “You will be a great asset to me, young Prince.”

Before he uttered another word, Prince Vegeta had spat on his face, resulting in Frieza giving him a powerful slap on the face that made him fly across the room, crashing through several pieces of furniture...

“St-sto-p” King Vegeta pleaded as he slowly got up and was on his knees. He’d hope to spare his son from any more torment that his former Master had plans for his son. He would endure any pain if it meant freeing his son. “Sp-spa-spare hi-him… I… I b-beg y-you…” He had already lost the love of his life and his younger son to the hands of these heartless goons who had the pleasure of tormenting them in front of his own eyes.

Frieza didn’t move as he saw King Vegeta crawling towards him, begging for his son’s life. He only continued to smirk as he gave the suffering man a good kick to his face making him bleed more.

“Tsk tsk… Have you learned nothing Vegeta?” He hummed as he walked away from the man, his focus was more on his son, whom he had grabbed by the neckline of his shirt. The young Prince didn’t have the strength to fight back as he was losing a lot of blood and energy. He weakly looked up at the monster he’d always hated. He reluctantly let his head fall as his vision began to fade… thinking that his time might come to an end and he will soon face the same fate as both his mother and brother had suffered.

“Do-don’t ki-kill hi-him!” Vegeta Senior howled as he struggled to free himself by the hands of the henchmen.

“My dear Vegeta…” Frieza pouted “Why would I kill him? When I have so much use for him.” He licked his lips as he raised his arm, his hand started to glow a bright purple color. A finger pointed to the young boy as a great power pierced through him.

Prince Vegeta’s eyes widened… a great pain flowed through his body that made him shriek in pain. In a blink of an eye, he noticed that he was crouching on the floor with Frieza above him, smiling creepily. There were words being spoken... like a spell was being cast…

He looked over to see his father staring at him in horror and tears in his eyes.

Never had he seen his father in tears like this… once in happiness but that has all died. It had been replaced with fear…

Prince Vegeta started to cry harder as the pain became more and more unbearable. He was starting to feel as if he was being tortured to death. As Frieza’s words got louder the pain became stronger. It felt like his own skin was being ripped apart and his body was being pierced everywhere…

He began praying to whoever was there to end this pain and let it all end there where he laid…

He finally let out a loud cry as he finally looked over to his own arms changing. Hairs were beginning to grow everywhere, and his teeth were becoming sharper… His hands had claws and were getting bigger.

With his final cry the transformation had been completed and the sight of the young boy was gone…left was only a large ape-like creature that it’s cry was replaced by a loud growl.

Frieza feeling satisfied, a delighted huff escaped his lips as he lowered his arm, looking over at the father who was now crying and trembling with fear.

“This is your punishment, if you can’t give me what I want. Then I’ll take away what you love the most!” He walked over to the now miserable man who now was in tears as he had now truly lost everything…

“Please…” he whispered, “Kill me if you must… just let my son go…”

Frieza smiled, “I’m afraid not.”

The king looked up to see a finger being pointed at him. The stone cold face now showing a wide sick smile being widened as he laughed.

“I am far from finished…”

More screams could be heard throughout the whole night and by the time daylight arrived those screams had died down. There was nothing left in the manor but blood, destruction and new innocent victims that now belong to the tyrant who had by now left them to fend for themselves. They had no place to be themselves no more…

For the next couple of years, the Prince and the other victims are now cursed to roam the land as beastly creatures with no hope to gain their humanity…

Unless that hope can be returned to the Beast who must search for not just what remains of their humanity… but for the Beauty who will set them free…


	2. Chapter 2

Years had passed since that dreadful night. The sun began to rise, blessing the rich fields with its warm light. Spreading upon a quiet town where there lived many normal looking citizens who have already been awakened by the rays of the sun for them to go on and start their daily chores. The bakers had their breads and rolls ready to be brought to hungry customers; to the vendors with their merchandise and goods prepared to be sold. It all seemed normal and the same for anyone who lived in town...

One of the townspeople was a young woman whose hair shined like the bright blue sky above. Her eyes filled with the same shade and clarity of aquamarine. Beautiful woman she was indeed. Many of the other women would glare at her with eyes full of jealousy over her beauty, while the men stared at her with their hunger, lustful eyes. 

She stood by a tree that looked over a large plot of land that was lined with grassy lanes and was filled with a large variety of trees that the young woman had had the pleasure in climbing them during her youth. There were also many varieties of flowers that had many bright colors to them. She smiled thinking back at those cherished memories as she walked through the fields. Many hours that she had spent picking all kinds of flowers, crafting them into a flower crown or a bouquet.

A voice had taken her out of her daydream as she saw her lovely sister calling her from the small barn, “Bulma! Come inside, it’s almost time to eat.” Her loving sister exclaimed as she rushed inside with a bucket in hand and a basket in the other. Bulma quickly picked up the basket that she had and made her way into the charming cottage. While passing through the kitchen, Bulma was struck with mouthwatering scents of foods being cooked. Her mouth was already starting to salivate as she laid her eyes on the table that was set and ready for breakfast. Bulma slowly reached for a strawberry muffin when her hand was softly hit by a wooden spoon.

“Ow!”

“Oh no you don’t! The least you can do is go wash your hands before you start to get your grimy little hands on the food I prepared.”

Bulma gave out a small pout at her sister as she rubbed her hand, “Aw come on Chi Chi, I’ve been working hard for the last hour. The least you could do is offer me the muffin. you know how much I love the way you make them.” Bulma gave her the puppy eyes before Chi Chi huffed and gave in.

“Alright.. you’re lucky that I’m not making you work for it this time.” She winked at her sister before going back to finishing warming up the milk.

Bulma took a large bite at the muffin before making a quick trip to the washroom to clean her hands and going downstairs to eat with her family.

“Where’s Papa? Isn’t he done working yet?” Bulma asked as she started serving her share of the meal, as Chi Chi sat down.

“He should be done by now. You know how he gets.”

Just as the blue haired beauty was about to say anything else, a tall and large happy-go-lucky man had walked into the room. He turned over to greet his beautiful daughters, “Good morning my dears!”

“Morning Papa!” Both girls said as the family finally got down to eat breakfast together.

“I hope you didn’t stay up late again working, Papa?” Chi Chi asked in a concerned tone, as Bulma had also shared her worry with her sister. Their father was known to work late at nights and would stay up at all hours of the night, never being able to get proper sleep. Mr Ox King worked as a trader. He made business with sea captains and merchants by trading and selling expensive goods. He traveled a lot to meet with other traders to sell and exchange merchandise. That’s how he is able to make a living while also making sure his family was living happily.

“Do not worry girls, I promise you that I’ve only been working for a short while. But later today I will need to go into the next town over to prepare for the trip I will need to take.”

“Must you go?” Chi Chi said feeling worried. 

“Why can’t we go with you this time?” Bulma asked with a glimpse of hope. Ox would often take them on his trips. They would sail across the seas and visit many native lands. Both Bulma and Chi Chi loved it when their father would take them along on his trips.

“I’m afraid not this time, my girls. Maybe another time when I wouldn’t be needed as much. This next shipment is supposed to be of great importance. They say that these types of merchandise are of high value.”

As soon as everyone was finished with breakfast, Chi Chi quickly packed a small lunch for their father as he left for his short trip to the next town and promised to be back in time for dinner.

After he left, Bulma nudged over at her sister, “Hey, let’s go into town and enjoy ourselves!”

“Bulma no, we should spend this time finishing our chores. We cannot be fooling around. What would our father think?”

“Aw come on Chi! I promise we won’t be gone that long, it’ll just be a quick trip! And besides we could get our chores done, like, within an hour. Plus, there’s this new book that I really wanted to go and get.”

Chi Chi felt unsure as she was more of the type to get things done before doing anything else, “I dunno Bulma…”

A smirk had grown on Bulma’s face as she had hatched an idea, “Oh that’s fine then…” She hummed, she twirled her finger along the edge of a chair “I could just go by myself. Maybe I’ll even have a chance to walk by a certain  _ strong _ and  _ handsome _ gentleman by the name of..” She lifted the finger to tap on her chin, clicking her tongue, “What was it again? Goku?”

Chi Chi blushed immediately as soon as she heard that name, she looked over at Bulma who gave her a wide grin and was at the verge of giggling.

Knowing that her own sister had found her weakness, she groaned, “Alright fine.”

She stopped Bulma before she could cheer, “One hour! One hour and then we go back to finishing our chores, got it?”

“Yes ma’am!” Bulma said happily as she quickly went inside to grab her and her sister’s bags before leaving. Both girls chatted as they made their way into their small town, it was nothing more than a half mile away from where they lived.

However… unbeknownst to both young women, they were being watched in a distance by a mysterious cloaked figure who only had eyes on them….


	3. Chapter 3

Both women had made it to the center of town as they walked through a large crowd of people that were roaming and dealing with their own business. There were people selling clothing, foods, furniture and many other items. The girls had to push their way through the congested area as more people were coming.

“Great… we chose  _ the BUSIEST _ time to come into town.” Chi Chi said with an annoyed tone as she walked beside her sister making sure that they didn't lose each other in the busy crowd.

“We’re almost there.” Bulma assured as they finally had made it out of the crowded area and they were now at an open district where citizens could be seen relaxing and enjoying themselves at a nearby cafe.

The girls noticed a small gathering of people beginning to form to see what the commotion was sourced. Both girls looked at each other and with a nod they began walking ahead to see what was up.

On closer inspection, both girls were witnessing a fight happening, however the fight did not appear from anger. Instead, it was a fighting competition that was happening, two fighters were going at it until one fighter got the upper hand and won. The crowd cheered as the fighter stood up and waved to the crowd.

“Is there anyone who thinks they have a chance fighting against our winning champion?” The man announced as he held up the winner’s hand in the air as the crowd continued to cheer.

The winning fighter was an incredibly tall, muscular man with long blonde locks that would make any woman swoon at his feet. He looked over at the direction of the sisters and winked at them.

Both Bulma and Chi Chi fought the urge to roll their eyes completely out of their sockets as they gave the guy an uninterested look.

“Who does this guy think he is flirting with us?” Bulma snorted.

“If he really thinks that we’re that easily impressed by him, then he’s got another thing coming to him! Especially if he tries anything.” Chi Chi growled as she was ready to break some bones.

Both girls turned their attention to the fighter’s next opponent, which made the crowd go quiet. Both girls were in shock to see that it was no other than their dear old friend, Goku. A blush began to spread across Chi Chi's cheeks witnessing Goku. He made his way onto the stage with an innocent, wide smile on his face. He stood in front of the man ready to fight.

Then the fighter laughed at Goku, “You really think that you have what it takes to fight against me?”

Goku gave the guy a wide confident smile and said, “Yup! I’m positive that I’ll win for sure!” he giggled.

The fighter twitched in annoyance before going up in his fighting stance, ready to fight. Goku also stood his ground with his own fighting stance. The stance the girls are too familiar with, something they had witnessed many times.

With the sound of the bell both fighters charged each other as they began to fight. Goku dodged the fighter’s attacks as he made a swift move and got the fighter on his knees. The fighter was starting to get annoyed as no matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t land a punch on Goku. 

“Would you just stand still for a moment?!” From the annoyed tone of his voice, he was getting increasingly more angry than annoyed as he saw the way Goku was able to move quickly to hit and kick him.

After a few minutes of fighting, the fighter had the idea to wrap his arms around Goku and started to squeeze him hard, he laughed as he saw Goku finally struggling to free himself. 

“Ha! What are you going to do now little man?” He taunted Goku as he continued to squish him and was ready to do a dirty trick.

Both girls were feeling anxious and afraid for their friend as he was having trouble freeing himself from his grip until…

“OW!!” The fighter held his right arm as he saw the bite marks that were starting to swell on his arm. He growled with rage as he was about to explode and confront Goku when his face met with an impressive kick that left him flying off of the stage and landing hard onto the floor.

The crowd immediately cheered as Goku sheepishly waved to the crowd, his free index finger rubbing the bottom of his nose. The girls cheered as loud as the crowd as they looked over at their friend who gave them a big thumbs up.

They announced another fighting match against Goku, but this time Goku convinced Krillin to go up and compete. Krillin reluctantly went up to the stage to spar against his pal.

Bulma looked over at the clock tower that was nearby, she only had a few minutes before Chi Chi would tell her that they would need to go so she would make the opportunity to leave for a moment to get her book.

“Hey Chi, I’m going over to get that book. I’ll be right back alright?”

“Uh.. yeah sure.” Chi Chi was entranced with how Goku moved and fought to notice that her sister had already left her side.

Bulma giggled to herself as she saw the way Chi Chi couldn’t take her eyes away from Goku and was practically drooling at everything he did. It had always been that way, with Chi Chi having a major crush on their best friend and talking over how she would love to marry him one day. 

Bulma made her way through the crowded areas once more, noticing a few people had started to stare at her. She was used to this, the way everyone would stare at and judge her behind her back. But she didn’t care, she liked not having to live up to the expectations of what society or this town had for her or her sister. They were happy the way they were. 

Although, it did bother Bulma a little bit when the whole town's people would gossip and talk how unladylike she and her sister would behave and act. Some even go as far as to criticize them for not being properly married yet, as many of the young women around Bulma and Chi Chi’s age had already settled down in marriage and have children. Ox never pressured or forced his girls into going through any of the courting rituals that the rest of the citizens had made their daughters endure to prepare for marriage. He’d rather let them decide when they were ready and was a strong believer that you should marry for love. They felt at ease knowing that they had the power to say no to any proposal that any man should come up to one of them and ask. There were a few times when a few of Ox’s associates would try to set up their sons to try and court one or both girls just to strengthen the ties with Ox and his business. But they both knew better and wouldn’t care how angry the men get for rejecting their advances. Both girls weren’t in a hurry to get married and were glad about it. With Chi Chi, she already has her heart set on who she wanted to marry and wanted to do with her life.

Although Bulma won’t admit it, she sometimes did get a little jealous that most women had already found their true love. Bulma may not seem like one to behave ladylike always, but she had her simple fantasies of meeting a dashing and handsome Prince Charming, who would sweep her off of her feet and ravish her like the strong man that he was! And once she finds her handsome Prince, she’ll rub it on the rest of the town! Showing that she had found a strong, brave man that would be exponentially better than most of the men the town had to offer! Alas, that was just a fantasy. It hadn’t been easy for Bulma to make herself available to court… not since…

“Oh!” Bulma didn’t notice that she had accidentally crashed into someone, “I’m so sorry!”

She turned around to apologize to the person but was met with a cloaked figure who didn’t look up at her and just walked past her without saying a word.

“Weird..” Bulma thought as she looked up to see that she’s right outside the place she wanted to be at.

The sign above the small building read:  _ Baba’s Fortune Telling _ , _ Magic Spells and Bookstore _ . It was the place where most girls would go to ask the well-known fortune teller Baba for wisdom and advice on who they will marry, or what day the wedding should be, as well as other types of fortune telling. This shop is where Bulma had claimed as her sanctuary. She loved to come in and get the various types of books to borrow and read. Baba, knowing both Bulma and her sister since they were young, had always welcomed them in with open arms and a nice cup of tea ready for them whenever they came to visit. Heck! She practically raised them in this place.

Bulma opened the door as she walked inside and smelled the fresh scent of herbs that Baba would leave out by the window. It made the atmosphere of the room more relaxing and peaceful. She closed her eyes momentarily to deeply inhale the fragrance as she walked further into the store as she saw Baba herself drinking a cup of tea and reading from one of her spell books.

Baba looked up from her spell book and greeted Bulma with a warm smile, “Bulma my child, how are you?”

Bulma walked over to give her a comforting hug, “I’m doing well Baba, and yourself?”

“Oh you know how it is everyday in this tacky, old store.” Baba sighed “Women coming in everyday asking me when their future husbands would arrive,” She waved her hands from left to right as she complained “or when it is the right time to have a child. Men asking me when they will become rich or powerful blah… blah… blah… same crap everyday!”

After letting out her frustration, Baba took a deep breath and took another sip of her tea, “So how is your father? Still working hard as usual?”

“When isn’t he?” Both women laughed.

“Where is your sister? She’s always by your side and bothering me with so many questions about that  _ Goku  _ boy.” She rolled her eyes, “Oh Baba when will I finally be able to marry Goku so I can be prepared? How many children will we have? Oh I hope we have many children!” Baba mocked her sister but in a more silly tone as she imitated Chi Chi’s voice and movements which made Bulma laugh loudly.

“Yup that’s my sister alright!” Both women continued to giggle for a while, “She’s outside watching the fighting event that’s happening.”

Baba gave her a surprised look as she passed Bulma a cup of tea, “Really? I thought she stopped going to those events? Why did she go this time?”

Bulma took a small sip of tea before narrowing her eyes and grinning, “Goku was competing against another fighter. You know Chi Chi, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him the entire time he was fighting!”

Baba smiled and shook her head, “My my, that girl is certainly head over heels for that boy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes the first move to court him before he gets the chance to blink!”

Both women continued to talk for a while until Bulma looked over at the clock, “Oh, I’d hate to interrupt you Baba, but I was wondering if I could borrow another book to read?”

“Of course, dear. You know you don’t always have to ask me! You’re free to look around and take as much as you want. Heck! You and your sister practically live here.” She chuckled as she saw Bulma getting up and walking over through the numerous tall bookshelves that she has. Bulma searched until she found the one that she was looking for.

“Here it is!” Bulma smiled as she hugged the book then rubbed the velvet cover of the book.

“Haven’t you already read that one Bulma? You must have read that book dozens of times.”

“Yeah I know, but this one is my favorite!” Her cheeks perked up towards her eyes. “It’s about this space pirate who gets stuck on this planet after fighting an evil tyrant and is forced to live in this new environment with this woman who is a scientist and a mechanic. They both eventually fall in love and have many adventures together as they fight off villains and travel the planet. Oh my goodness! I still remember how I reacted to that huge twist about the reveal about the boy from the future that happened on page-” Bulma gushed over the book as if it was her first time reading it all over again. Surprisingly all in one breath.

Baba smiled, “Well if you really love that book that much I’ll let you keep it.”

Bulma looked at her in surprise, “Oh no I couldn’t! Baba you’re being too generous.”

“Nonsense dear! I have too many books here for me to have any time to go back to. Besides, if I had to choose the one person I can trust with any book it’s you, my dear.”

Bulma smiled happily as she hugged her favorite book and went over to give Baba another hug. “Thank you so much! I’ll take great care of it.”

“I know you will.”

Just as Bulma was about to turn and leave Baba had stopped her, “Yes Baba?”

“I almost forgot something…” Baba dug into her messy drawers as she took out a piece of paper and started to write down a few things on it then handed it over to Bulma.

“Here is a list of things I’ll need your father to bring me when he comes back from his trip. And remind him to not mix up my herbs, the last ones I received got mixed up and I had to wait another month for my shipment.” She waved her index finger in Bulma’s face.

“I’ll be sure to let him know.” Bulma took a quick glance at a small book that had fallen out of the messy drawer that Baba had looked into. Bulma picked it up and inspected it. It looked a bit old and the cover was a bit damaged as the author’s name was too blurry to read. But she could make out the title,  _ “Tales of Fairies.” _

“What type of book is this Baba?”

“Oh that old thing? I’ve been meaning to throw that out. It’s nothing but a bunch of fairy nonsense and other wacky stuff. You can keep that one too if you’d like. It’ll save me the trouble of finally getting rid of it when I should have long ago.”

“Thank you very much Baba.” Bulma waved goodbye to her as she left the store and made her way back to where the fighting event was happening. She looked around for her sister, then started to worry when she couldn’t find her.

She relaxed as she finally spotted her then froze when she saw who her sister was talking to then made a run for it.

~A few minutes earlier~

Chi Chi continued to watch the way his body moved with every swing, turn and kick he made towards his opponent. The way his dark, messy hair moved with the wind and his skin glistening with the sweat that was streaming down his muscular body. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer the longer she stared at him. Her thoughts started to become more vulgar and detailed that made her face turn as bright as a tomato. Chi Chi hadn’t told Bulma this yet but, she started to have erotic dreams about the man she adored. They were just innocent dreams at first, until it progressed to where Chi Chi would wake up feeling wet not only by her sweat but in… other intimate areas.

She looked up to see Goku finally staring back at her, she should have looked away the moment he looked at her, but she couldn’t. She felt like she was in a trance every time she saw him, she was so enchanted by him which made her yearn to get closer to him. Since the first day they met each other in their youth, she wanted to get to know to him. She even went far enough to beg her father to allow her to study the martial arts under Master Roshi so she could be closer to him. After many days of begging and pleading, Ox finally agreed to let her go, with the condition that Bulma would accompany her every time she went. This didn’t bother her as the times that she would go, Bulma would have her nose stuck inside a book as she would be training alongside him.

Chi Chi got out of her daydream as she realized that she had been staring at Goku this entire time. Her cheeks redden even more as she felt embarrassed.

_ “Crap! I’ve been staring at him this entire time! He probably thinks I’m a creep for staring at him for this long?!” _ Her thoughts were erased when she noticed that Goku seemed to be showing off while he was fighting Krillin.

Goku was able to win over again the fight with his friend as he lightly kicked his friend off of the stage as Krillin landed right next to her.

“Ouch!” Krillin massaged his head as he got up, groaning.

“Sorry about that pal. I hope I wasn’t too rough on ya.” Goku said as he rubbed the back of his neck while giving Krillin an apologetic look.

“Yeah well the next match I’ll be kicking your butt.” Krillin gave off a smug tone as he got up the stage again, “How about a rematch?” he said as he was ready to fight again in his fighting pose.

“You’re on.” Goku smiled, but not before looking over at Chi Chi and giving her a quick wink then proceeding to fight Krillin again.

Chi Chi felt like her heart had skipped a beat and jumped into her throat as she witnessed Goku giving her that wink. She turned around to see if there was anyone else that was reacting towards that wink. Maybe it was meant for someone else and not her. Those thoughts went away once again as she saw Goku smiling and waving at her as he continued fighting.

Her heart skipped another beat, she felt like she was floating in midair and was taken off to Heaven itself…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she looked over at the clock tower, “Oh no!” The hour has already passed and they will need to leave soon. She reluctantly walked away from the event as she made her way out into the open area.

Chi Chi looked around to see if she could find Bulma, and started to get worried. Then she facepalmed as she remembered that Bulma went with Baba. So, she made her way towards the bookstore when suddenly she was met with another body and crashed into them, making her fall down.

“Oh excuse me…” Chi Chi got up to apologize to the man.

“Well hello there, sweets.” A familiar voice cooed. 

Chi Chi froze as she looked over to see to her surprise who it was. There was only one person who she knew called her and her sister by that nickname. She looked up at annoyance to not other than Dodoria. A fat man who was nothing but a pig and slob who had no respect for women.

“Well then aren’t ya gonna greet me there, sweet cheeks?”

Chi Chi shivered in disgust as she hated it when pigs like him cat-called her and Bulma like that, “My name is Chi Chi and it’ll do you good to remember that before I kick your sorry ass!”

“Oh ho ho! Excuse me there Princess, I didn’t mean to offend you.” He said mockingly, “I was only wondering why a damsel such as yourself would be out here all by herself without an escort. You need to be more careful there are men around here that won’t be too hesitant to want to try anything on ya.”

“You mean pigs like you!” Chi Chi stuck out her tongue.

“Aww come on now sweets, don’t be like that.” He was getting too close to her face when another voice yelled out.

Both of them turned around to see Bulma running up to her sister, ready to chew him out. Chi Chi let out a sigh of relief that her sister was here by her side to kick this pig’s ass.

“How about you do us both a favor and run back to your Master like a good boy that you are, hmm?” Bulma snarked at him as Chi Chi giggled beside her, “I mean that’s all you ever do right? You’re nothing but a smelly, lazy lap dog.”

Dodoria was getting angry especially when his fat face was turning a dark shade of red, “Why you! Y-you’re nothing but a bitch yourself you know that!”

Both girls were ready to go at it with this turd when another voice was heard and three heads turned towards the person behind that voice.

“Now now Dodoria, is that anyway to treat these beautiful women like that? Have you no shame!” Dodoria growled in annoyance as his associate walked over beside him. 

Both girls weren’t done lowering their guard as they tensed up to see the man who walked by his associate and was now looking over at the girls. He stood in front of them as he gave the woman a small smirk. To others, this man can be seen as a charming, handsome looking man with smooth, green skin and long emerald locks. However, he couldn’t fool these girls as they could see right through this man. They had been taught that appearances can be deceiving.

The man continued to stare at the woman until his eyes laid on Bulma and his smiled widened, “Hello there Bulma.” He said in his soothing voice, “It’s nice to see you here again.”

“Zarbon” She answered in a dull and uninterested tone as she held her sister’s hand tighter, Chi Chi held it back as well as they both felt trapped with no way out from escaping these buffoons sight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I have uploaded a new chapter! About time right? Thank you all for being so patient.
> 
> I also want to take this moment to thank all of my readers who have been giving me nothing but amazing and positive comments and who are loving my story. It means a lot. Thank you all so much! 💕 I love you all!

“Oh my! How long has it been since we’ve last seen each other hmmm?" Zarbon cooed. "Maybe a week or so?” 

“It’s been two days actually...” Bulma sighed as she and Chi Chi were both starting to get uncomfortable. Just having to be in the presence of Zarbon and Dodoria, hell, even thinking about them made the hair on the back of their necks spike up. It boggled the girls' minds that the citizens of this town call them by their ‘respectable’ titles, their lordship

Allegedly, they worked side by side with most of the nobles who are close to the king himself. Abusing that privilege, these two were nothing but a sick and twisted pair who would take power and control in their own hands. They would take the pleasure in bullying anyone that dares step in their path. It sickened the girls to witness how helpless most of the citizens felt to be tormented by these two. Most of the citizens had only given them respect out of fear of being punished, especially under the impression that these two claimed to have ‘strong ties with the king.’

“It’s been far too long for us to have seen each other." Zarbon had pouted. He inched over closer to Bulma and grabbed a lock of her hair, gently pulling it towards his lips. "We need to see each other much more.” Zarbon once again cooed before letting her hair slide down his fingers. Bulma felt chills as the lock of hair caressed her neck as it returned back to her. Zarbon occasionally did this gesture to most of the town's women, and he knew it made them melt. But these girls weren't fools, they’d seen it all the time.

Long ago when Dodoria and Zarbon first met Bulma and Chi Chi, both had barely reached their teen years. During that time, both men started to approach them. Zarbon introduced himself with his charisma, and Dodoria in his off-putting behavior, which made the girls dislike Dodoria immediately. Zarbon had managed to woo the girls, convincing them that he was far different and much better than his companion. He had them convinced until they saw his true colors revealed, witnessing first hand how both he and Dodoria cruelly and merciless treated the citizens. This taught the girls to never trust either of them and learned to keep their distance from them. The farther, the better. Yet, it was always hard to stay away from them. It was almost magnetizing, Zarbon and Dodoria had kept appearing in front of them almost out of thin air to bother the sisters. 

To the girls' annoyance, this was one of those days when they didn’t feel like taking any punches from those pests. Even though Chi Chi wouldn’t hesitate to kick their asses, their status and punishment from the king be damned, she wouldn’t. But she knew Bulma would get worried and didn’t want to see her get herself hurt like last time.

“Gentlemen..” Bulma cleared her throat as she began to start her routine of getting away from the two geezers creeps as she always had done. “We’d love to stay and have a lovely chat with you,” She fluttered her eyelashes, “But I’m afraid we have to be on our way as we are  _ very _ busy. Aren’t we sis?”

“ _ Absolutely! _ ” Chi Chi chimed, grabbing Bulma’s hand, pulling her beside her. She noticed the two start to close the distance between them.

“Why leave so soon sweets?” Dodoria came up in front of the girls to block their way, “We only wanna hang out with our favorite gals.” He pouted “ And it just so happens to be you two. I mean,” he scoffed “who wouldn’t want to hang out with men like us?”

“Those who have the stomach to stay around.” Bulma sneered, Chi Chi attempted to swallow the smirk that crept upon her face. Her sister’s comment and Dodoria’s face was almost too much to handle. Dodoria looked slightly offended. Before he could say anything, Zarbon swooped in front of his comrade.

“You know," Zarbon moved in closer to Bulma, wrapping his arm around her shoulder "We're going to be attending a grand ball tomorrow evening. You ladies should join us! We’ll have a grand time and if you stay by our side no one would dare bother you two and-”

“Yeah I don’t think so!” Chi Chi spoke up in her loud voice as she knew where this conversation was going. She firmly grabbed Zarbon’s grubby hand and flung it off of her sister. The girls distancing themselves again.

“We’ll be very busy for the next couple of days. There’s so much that we need to get done.  _ Won’t we, _ Bulma?” She glared at Bulma with wide eyes.

“Very! So why don’t you boys go bother some other young women? I’m pretty sure they’ll be more than happy- in fact, HONORED to accompany you two! So with that, we’ll be on our way.” Bulma grabbed Chi Chi's hand and began to walk away. 

Before they could make their escape and leave, both were stopped by Dodoria who blocked their path again as he smirked at them, “Where’s the rush sweets? We only wanted to be polite and invite ya to our little get together." he said fake pouting. "Don’t be rude to refuse our offer. I mean it’s not everyday ladies like you get invited any parties at alright?" He said through gritted teeth.

“Now, now, Dodoria, we mustn’t rush these two. After all they’re not like the other women in this town. These ones are quite special.” Both men smirked, “I mean after all they’re nothing compared to the ones we always see here in this town or in any town for that matter.”

“What the Hell are you two implying?” Chi Chi raised her eyebrow as both hands began to plant on her hips. Both her and Bulma were starting to get angry from where his tone of voice was implying.

“Oh! Don't get me wrong!” He waved his hands and laughed “You ladies are just as beautiful and charming… only when it comes to your appearances.” He looked up and down at both girls, then walked over and stopped in front of Bulma as he scanned her, “Bulma dear, you have such an exquisite hair color that matches your eyes. They remind me of the bright blue sky.” He sighed, “And yet, isn’t it funny that you’re the  _ only _ one here in this town with your hair color?” He went on, smirking as he leaned forward his hand was once again reaching to touch her hair. This time Bulma pulled away before he could touch her hair. She absolutely hated it when people touched her hair without permission and more importantly point out her odd hair color.

“I’m not the only one with a weird hair color, there are literally many others in town who have multicolored hair and-”

“And yet you’re the only one in your family who has the bright hair color hmm?” Zarbon interjected “Last time I checked, Ox King only had brunette hair and brown eyes and he certainly didn’t have relatives with  _ blue _ hair or eye color? Even your  _ sister _ doesn’t have any-”

“Don’t you listen to these idiots, sis!” Chi Chi cut off Zarbon as she made way to stand in between both him and Bulma, “He’s just trying to get under our skin and it won’t work!” 

“Oh my Chi Chi, you have such a way with words! I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side. Much to the dismay of all of your other victims you’ve beaten in the past during your days of fighting.” He recalled, “ However, it was only a matter of time before someone put you in your place. Oh that’s right, someone did!.” Both men laughed which angered both of the sisters. 

Zarbon recalled the time when Chi Chi had severely lost in one of the fighting tournaments. She was put against another contestant that proved to be too much for Chi Chi to handle. He injured her very badly and ended up needing to be hospitalized for the following days. Chi Chi hadn’t gone back to fight, feeling ashamed of not stopping when she should have. Bulma had faith that one day her sister will go back to fighting, she just needed time. What good came out of her situation was that Goku was able to win against the one who defeated her. However, not without serious vengeance, leaving him in a critical state for the next few months.

“What kind of woman spends her time learning how to do martial arts? Don’t you know that is what men are meant for? The fighting tournament is no place for a lady.” Zarbon said with a much disgusted tone then laughed, “I mean look where it got you, Chi Chi! You go on fighting against men! You should have known better than going up against strong men! Especially when you can’t compete at their level! In the end you got beaten by a man who was far superior than you. Very unlady-like!”

“HA! Like she ever was a lady to begin with?” Dodoria chuckled. 

“Why don’t you come say it to my face you fat lard!” Chi Chi yelled at the idiot. Bulma had to hold her sister back before she would do anything that could get them in trouble or hurt.

Zarbon chuckled, “Your attitudes and behavior  _ are _ your worst kind of enemies. Aren’t they? Women are meant to be obedient and provide for their husbands not to be complete…. hmmm? What is the word I’m looking for?” Snapping his fingers as he went into thoughts.

“Hags.” Dodoria said with a wide grin as he witnessed the girls' horrific reactions to what they were referring to them as. 

“Ahh! That’s right! Thank you Dodoria.” He smiled “See, women are only meant to be seen, not heard. A woman’s only goals in life are to be married off and to be provided for by their husband. They must obey them and more importantly to satisfy their man’s needs as well as continue their lineage by providing them with children.” 

“Yet these gals aren’t doing any of those things! They’d rather focus on their  _ own _ needs.” Dodoria commented as he circled around the girls, “I mean what would the whole town think?”

“What  _ haven’t _ they thought of them? That’s for certain!” Zarbon corrected his associate as he continued on his rant, “It is scandalous to think that these two here are continuing to do what they are doing. It’s preposterous! Women learning to do martial arts when fighting is only a skill for men! And then there’s women teaching others to read and write?! HA! Like who has time for that?”

“We don’t just do that!” Bulma yelled back as she faced Zarbon with an angry, red, and serious face, “Women like us are more than just a pretty face. Chi Chi can cook a mean meal and yet she takes the time to donate her time to give food to those who aren't able to. She also provides self defense classes for other women and those who want to protect themselves against jerks like you! And I don’t just read and write for fun! I do help teach not just children but grown adults as well who haven’t been given the time to learn how to. And I am an actual publisher of my own works. We are much more than the  _ hags  _ you assume us to be! Women can do  _ much _ more than just cooking, cleaning and such! We are also hard working humans that don’t always need a man to provide for us. If anything men  _ need _ women more than they need themselves as they’re pretty useless without us!”

“You tell’em sis!” Chi Chi cheered as Bulma finished telling both Zarbon and Dodoria off, as they stood there silent staring at them waiting for a reaction. 

Until they both started to laugh.

“See now this is the kind of thing that makes you both undesirable to any future husbands.” Dodoria chuckled evilly.

“Well this certainly was a fun talk we had.” Zarbon sighed, putting his arms on his hips. “ We need to do this again! Let’s say.. tomorrow evening yes?” Zarbon gave them both invitations containing the information on not just where the ball will be located at, or what type of meals there will be. It also included a dress code, all of this embossed with gold lettering. The sisters didn’t even bother to look at them. They gave each other a glance and began to rip the invitations into pieces. Making it clear once again they had that they had no interest in attending the event.

“Oh what a waste you both are making! See, that is very unlady like behavior indeed.” Zarbon clicked his tongue as he and Dodoria both started to get uncomfortably close to the sisters.

“Now sweet things, we won’t be asking you again because we are no longer giving you a choice. You are both required to attend this ball! ‘Cause if ya don’t, there will be some consequences!” Dodoria’s tone was starting to get more commanding as both he and Zarbon had no intention of letting the girls leave without agreeing to their forceful invitation.

Just as both girls were about to resort to drastic measures to get out of their situation, when something fast moved passed them. In a blink of an eye, both Zarbon and Dodoria were on the floor coughing loudly. Zarbon was holding onto his stomach with one arm while using the other arm to get back up just barely. Dodoria was using all kinds of foul words as he’s holding onto his nose with both of his hands, there’s small drops of blood that could be seen coming down.

“Wh-Who is the fucker that dared to…” Zarbon looked up to see a pair of angry brown eyes staring down at him. Zarbon growled in anger with his eyes twitching as he whispered his name in disgust, “How dare  _ you _ !”

“How dare I? Oh come on now Bon-Bon! You know better than to harass two beautiful ladies! Especially when those two ladies happen to be my family.” There he stood with his long, spiky hair and tanned skin as he continued to mock Zarbon who in return was ready to murder him on the spot. The hedgehog haired man then turned to see if the sisters were alright.

“Raditz!” Bulma sighed in relief and rushed over to him and gave him a big hug, “Our hero!”

“Aw it was nothing, Blue!” Raditz laughed as he ruffled her hair, messing it up.

“Hey!” Bulma pouted and pulled away as she fixed her hair, using her fingers to comb it.

“Hey Chi!” Raditz went over to give her a warm hug.

“You son of a bitch!” Dodoria stomped over to him. Raditz pulled away from the hug as he pushed both sisters behind him to protect them.

“Hey, that broken nose is a good look for ya bud!” Raditz smirked, making Dodoria's face glow red, “Why I oughta teach you a lesson!” Zarbon appeared right behind him as he was ready to fight back.

Raditz stood in front of Zarbon and Dodoria as he stood over with a serious look on his face and his chest puffed. Both of the men were pissed at Raditz for catching them off guard, especially with the decent size crowd formed, witnessing the commotion. They didn’t like being seen as weak and they were about to teach this guy a lesson on respecting them.

“Hey there guys!” Everyone looked over to see Goku running towards them almost as if not reading the mood. He walked up in between Raditz, Zarbon, and Dodoria, “What’s going on?”

“This is none of your business, you idiot! Now get out of the way!” Dodoria yelled as he had only one arm ready to fight with while the other one was still holding his nose that still had blood pouring out from..

“Well, I’m just not so sure that it’s a good idea for you guys to be fighting out in the open like this.” said Goku.

“Oh really?” Zarbon walked over to Goku with his face almost getting too close to his, “Are you afraid that we’ll be able to win the fight against your brother huh?” He smirked wickedly, “Wouldn’t want any accidents to occur now would we? Just like what happened  _ that _ night?”

Goku tensed up as he was gripping hard at his hands as they were shaking a little, Raditz seeing this happening and was ready to jump in front to attack.

However, Goku lifted up his hand knowing that Raditz was getting just as mad as he was.

“No Zarbon I’m actually more worried for you and your buddy.”

Zarbon raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Why so?”

“What kind of reputation are you both going to hold if you start picking random fights like this on the street? And here I thought you both had more class than this? I expected better from those who say that they work close to the royal family!” He chuckled, “I mean, what would this town think of you both acting like a bunch of ruffians or almost like children?” Goku smirked at the last comment as he could see the anger in Zarbon’s eyes as his face turned red. Zarbon looked around his surroundings seeing a couple of the townspeople that had witnessed the whole scene that had happened. He hated to admit it, but he was right.

“Let’s go Dodoria.” Zarbon turned around to leave.

“What?! Are you serious? I was ready to-”

“Now!” 

Dodoria growled in frustration as he followed Zarbon, turning into a dark corner. He held onto his bloodied nose, who was very pissed at his comrade for not letting him teach the clown a lesson. He stopped as Zarbon began to talk.

“I know! I know what you’re going to say! And I know you’re mad-”

“You’re damn right I’m mad! I coulda taken that idiot down if you had let me but NO you put your own damn ego first!”

Zarbon twitched in annoyance, “Did it ever occur to you that it would have been better if we had handled those two in private? As much as I love a good show, I’d rather we not make a bloodied mess. Besides my friend, we have bigger things to worry about. And when we are finished, I promise you that we’ll get back at them when we get the chance.” He smirked wickly as Dodoria also shared a wicked smile.

“Yeah it’s too bad we didn’t have more time with those dames they sure are some beauties eh?”

“Not to worry Dodoria, we will see them again as we always do. I can assure you that.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new update yay!!! And finally right?
> 
> Thank you all for your patience. It's been a crazy couple of months hasn't it? I hope you all are staying safe out there, if not please take care of yourselves! We can't continue on fighting for rights and equality without healing physically AS WELL AS emotionally and mentally. Love you all sm!

As soon as both Zarbon and Dodoria were out of sight, both girls rushed over to thank the brothers for rescuing them. Chi Chi who was beginning to blush the closer she got to Goku, who only smiled back at her. She noticed a bruise that was forming on the right side of his cheek.

“Oh Goku!” Chi Chi had practically thrown herself onto him., “What happened to you? You didn’t have that bruise earlier!” Her hand instinctively went toward his cheek, pulling it away at the last second, despite her desire.

Goku touched his cheek and chuckled, “Oh that! Don’t worry about it Cheech. This must have happened during one of the fights I had during the tournament.”

Before Chi Chi could say anything else, Bulma interjected, “Wow Goku, I’m impressed! I didn’t know you had it in you to sass people like that!” Bulma was proud of her friend for sticking up to those jerks! It wasn’t a common occurrence to witness Goku sassing those whom he wasn’t intentionally fighting against.

“Oh yeah.” He chuckled while he put his hand over his head, rubbing the back of his head, “It just didn’t seem right, ya know? Those guys are nothing but a bunch of bullies, and it was about time someone gave them a taste of their own medicine!” He giggled.

Bulma giggled as well as she was about to go over to hug her best friend when-

**WHACK**

“Ow!” Goku was on his knees hugging his forehead, “Whatcha do that for, Raditz?” He looked up to see his older brother glaring down at him with furry in his eyes.

“I leave the stand for not one, but for  _ five _ minutes, to go get more of our supplies to sell and where did I find you? Fighting in a competition with other fighters!”

Goku gulped as he looked shyly down, “Well it’s not that I-”

“No! You were supposed to be helping me out with selling our produce that we’ve worked so hard this last season to grow and you go out and ditch me!” 

When the brothers weren’t off training with Master Roshi in their martial arts, they made it their side job to work on their farm and harvest various types of vegetables. Since they had inherited a large property at a young age, they used it to plant and harvest as much vegetables as they could. Especially when they needed money not just to provide for themselves, but for any needs to keep themselves well prepared if anything were to occur. 

The brothers also had planted an apple and a pear tree that the sisters would come over and help pick. Even when they were younger, Bulma and Chi Chi would come over to their farm and help them harvest. The girls had practically made the farm their second home, especially since it was in close proximity to their own house. In return for their help, the brothers would offer them their first pick of the products. Chi Chi would also cook and bake for the boys with their produce, so it was a win-win for everyone!

“Hey! I didn’t ditch you completely! I said I would be right back.”

“Oh yeah? You were gone for more than an hour! I had to double work to get everything sold off, no thanks to you!”

“Ok! I’m sorry I’ll make it up to you bro, I promise!” 

“Ha! Yeah right!”

“I’m serious! You just say it and I’ll do it!” Goku pleaded with eyes to match his words. He looked at his brother, genuinely feeling bad for having his brother do most of the work. What Raditz had said was true, they both had been working hard these last few months on the fields, making sure all of the vegetables and other crops were ripe enough to be harvested.

“Oh will you now?” Raditz smirked devilishly as he wanted to teach his little brother a lesson.

“Yeah I promise! You just say it and I’ll do it!”

Raditz widened his smirk, “Alright then baby brother, if you  _ really _ wanna make it up to me then…” He paused for some dramatic effect, “You are going to spend the rest of this month sanitizing the equipment that we will be using throughout the whole harvest season without  _ any _ help!  _ And, _ you also have to help me fertilize the grounds to prepare for next year’s harvest!”

Raditz laughed so hard as he saw the expression that his little brother made. Goku’s whole jaw dropped almost as hard as an anvil.

“ **Are you** **_serious?_ ** **!** ”

“Hey! You said ‘Just say it and I’ll do it!’ and that’s final! It’s only fair that you do it as a  _ favor _ for ditching me earlier!” Goku had a terrible habit of getting distracted and wandering off when he was supposed to do his chores, this a perfect opportunity to unlearn the habit! Raditz always had to finish the rest of the work then scold Goku. Goku would purposely skip out on helping with the fertilizing, which angered his brother to no end. Despite their best efforts, the fertilizer’s stench would stain their hair and clothes. Countless baths were drawn to get rid of it.

“That’s not fair!”

“Life isn’t fair!”

“Yeah but-”

“No buts, Kakarot! I could have given you an even harsher punishment than just doing simple yard work!”

“That’s not even simple yard work!” 

“Oh really? You want me to make you clean the stables instead, huh?! Because I know you wouldn’t want to do it anyway!” He said in a smug tone at his brother that made Goku groan in annoyance.

“Alright… alright!” Goku raised his hands up in defeat, “I’ll help clean up the tools and help with the fertilizing. No problem!” He said as he laughed nervously.

Raditz smirked, “I thought so.”

Although he was upset that he had to do more of the work, Goku nodded his head agreeing to help his brother out. Before he could say another word, he noticed that his brother moved past him, making his way towards the girls. 

“Sorry about that ladies. I was just having a little ‘discussion’ with my lil brother, you know how it is.” He smiled as he chuckled a little and put his arms over their shoulders.

Bulma laughed along, “Yeah I hear ya! It’s like Chi Chi and me ‘discuss’ how I should be helping her out more with the cleaning instead of making a mess.”

“Well you do make a mess! And on most days you don’t even wanna help me out, all you wanna do is sit on your butt all day and read!”

“I do not! I helped out just this morning I helped with the laundry.”

“Oh yeah!” Chi Chi put her finger to her chin “Right after I woke you up from your four hour nap!”

“It wasn’t a nap!” Bulma pouted “It wasn’t even four hours. It was a solid three hour sleep.”

“This is coming from the same girl who also insists on getting enough ‘beauty sleep’ despite still looking like a troll in the morning!”

“Oh fuck you! You’re not so perfect either! I see the way you’ve been hoarding all of the pastries to yourself.”

“I do not! I’ve only been eating a few of them.”

“Ha! Yeah right?! You know you’ve been getting a little chubby nowadays.”

“Says you! You literally keep a bunch of snacks in that  _ cave _ you call your ‘room’.”

“I do not! And my room isn’t that messy!”

“Oh please! I can’t even get halfway through your room without stepping on your clothes, notebooks, wrappers and who knows what else in that mess you have.”

“It’s not that messy! Raditz tell her it’s not that messy!”

Raditz, desperately wanting to not get involved in their argument, signaled that his lips were sealed and put his hands up. He stared at his brother for some help, but even Goku couldn’t help him out while he just kept to himself as an innocent bystander.

“Well I… uhh-” Raditz struggled to speak. It was almost like walking on a minefield.

“Don’t get him involved in this! This is between you and me!” Chi Chi furrowed her eyebrows.

“Hey we can have a third party count, he can say it if he wants to! And he’ll agree with me. Won’t you Raddy?” Bulma gave him puppy dog eyes.

“No he won’t! He’ll agree with me! Won’t you, Raditz?”

Raditz looked a little panicked, turning over again for his brother’s help who only offered him a shrug and continued to witness a pot boiling over.

“Well… it can be a li-little messy sometimes.”

Bulma gasped in silence as she felt betrayed while her sister laughed.

“HA! See! Your room  _ is _ a mess.”

“Raditz why?!” Bulma gave him a pout and crossed her arms. Her eyes glared at him, full of betrayal.

“Oh no!” Raditz ran his hands through his hair “No! Blue come on don’t give me that look.”

“Don’t let those eyes fool you! She gives me those same eyes when she promises to keep her room clean” Chi Chi folded her arms and began tapping her feet in annoyance.

“Well what if I like keeping it a mess? So what?!”

As the sisters continued to argue, someone came running towards the group. Both of the brothers noticed that it was Krillin who came up to them.

“Goku! There you are!” He stopped running as he took the time to rest and catch his breath, he quickly turned his head to see the sisters having a shouting match, “Oh they’re arguing again.”

He shook his head then put his attention back to his best friend, “Anyway! Why did you run out half way through the match? You could have easily won if you hadn’t run off.”

“Oh I’m sorry Krillin.” Goku rubbed the back of his head, “I saw that Zarbon and Dodoria were bothering Bulma, Chi Chi and Raditz so I came to stop those bullies from hurting them.”

“Oh geez! Those guys again!” Krillin rolled his eyes in annoyance as he ran his hand on his bald head, “Honestly it’s a miracle that you were able to stop them, Goku. Those creeps get away with everything! Even the soldiers here let them get away with too much stuff, it’s ridiculous!” 

“Yeah! Well that’s the rich for ya!” Raditz growled in displeasure and crossed his arms, “Those bastards with lots of money and high authority will let anyone get away with shady crap. Especially when there are bribes involved.” He walked over to Krillin, “That idiot Satan is letting them walk through him like the rug that he is huh?”

Krillin shook his head in disappointment, “Still baffles me how he’s even still captain of the guards. With all the shady business that Zarbon and Dodoria are doing in the open. And yet, he’s too much of a coward to face them.”

“And the fact that he’s getting bribed to keep quiet about all that crap!” Raditz said in his not so quiet voice.

“Yeah just the other day Tien had had enough of them that he challenged them to a fight! Can you believe that?”

“Wait what happend?” Bulma asked as both she and Chi Chi stopped their arguing and turned their attention to their small friend. If anything got them to stop arguing, it was gossip.

“Who got into a fight?” Chi Chi asked while both she and Bulma made their way toward Krillin who had a sad look on his face.

“Tien got tired of Zarbon and Dodoria’s crap that he had the guts to face them in a fight and it didn’t go too well. I wasn’t there when it happened, but last I heard they were sent to the hospital.”

“Did Tien get hurt badly?” Goku asked with a worried and sad look on his face.

Krillin shook his head, “Lapis told me that Tien got beaten up pretty badly but as Dodoria was about to punch him, Yamcha had stepped in to block him. But he also ended up taking a beating worse than Tien’s. After both Zarbon and Dodoria were done ‘teaching them a lesson’ Lapis was the one that quickly took both of them to the hospital to get healed and checked out.”

Both of the sisters were shocked about this news, the brothers were furious. Zarbon and Dodoria not only had a reputation for getting their way with these kinds of stuff, they also have a habit of nearly killing their opponents or anyone they don’t like. It hit much harder knowing it was someone close.

“They have gone too far!” Goku yelled angrily. He was beyond furious with the way how those bastards had treated his friends. Goku walked away from the group to cool off, not wanting his friends to see him angry. It was a rare sight to see Goku get angry, especially when it seemed a smile was always plastered to his face..

“Are they still at the hospital?” Bulma asked. Krillin nodded his head.

“Their injuries were pretty serious and required for them to be admitted. I actually visited them earlier, they still looked pretty bad with all the bandages wrapped around them, but the doctors said that they’ll be fine within the next couple of days.”

Bulma sighed in relief, “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Kakarot wait!” Everyone turned to see Raditz running after Goku as he ran out of the alley. Krillin along with Chi Chi and Bulma ran after the brothers. They went through a series of alleyways and streets until they finally stopped at a huge area with long ironed gates.    
  


In front of them was the mansion where Zarbon and Dodoria resided. The estate was also famous for hosting the luxurious parties for the upper class. Rumors of the estate and its residents had circulated wildly around town, especially the one with a man who allegedly had close ties with the king and the royal family. The estate was also well known for high security as most of the soldiers work grueling shifts to keep guard inside and outside of the mansion.

Goku stood in front of the estate, reaching for the gate’s handles when Raditz stood in front of him.

“I know what you’re thinking Kakarot, and if you’re gonna do what I think you’re gonna do. I highly suggest that you don’t do it!” He whispered softly to Goku as both brothers were being watched over by two guards that were standing near the gates. Krillin, Chi Chi and Bulma anxiously stood still as they watched Raditz calm Goku down before he did anything jurassic.

“Kakarot…” Raditz whispered as his brother stood by the gates for a moment then moved away and stood in front of his brother, he was still very upset.

“Hey,” Raditz placed his hand on his shoulder, “I know you feel guilty and responsible for not doing anything, but you shouldn’t be! There wasn’t anything that we could have done. Even if we did, you would have gotten your ass kicked as well.” Goku smiled a little as he nodded at what his brother said. He knows that he shouldn’t feel bad for the things that happen to others and yet he feels bad for not doing anything to help.

“Tomorrow we’ll go visit them at the hospital alright?” Goku nodded in agreement as they walked away from the estate and back with their anxious friends who were relieved to see that Goku had calmed down.

After they all talked for a while, Krillin said his goodbyes and left. The brothers escorted the sisters back to their home after having a long day. The beautiful sky changed from bright colors in a darker color with the stars shining brightly. Raditz had asked the girls about their father’s business trip, knowing that Ox was going to be gone for the next couple of days.

“Where is he going this time?” Goku asked.

“He said that he was going to stop by the ports to do business there for a few days then travel to Bridgetown and to another town nearby. He’s having a meeting with the other traders about some important packages being delivered that got caught by a storm a while back, so he’s going off to check the ships and if the cargo is still well intact.” Chi Chi explained, she smiled shyly as she walked beside Goku.

“Well that’s interesting. If you girls ever need any help, don’t hesitate to ask us for any help. After all, we're only a walk away.” Goku grinned widely which made Chi Chi’s stomach flip.

“Hey are you alright Cheech? You’re looking a little red.” Goku said innocently.

Chi Chi quickly looked away feeling a little embarrassed that he saw her getting flustered with the way he smiled at her.

“Oh yes! I’m fine Goku. I’m just feeling a little tired that’s all.”

Before she could say anything else, Chi Chi felt herself being lifted away from the ground. She felt strong arms being wrapped around her as she was being carried by Goku who only smiled at her.

“Y-You don’t have to do that Goku!” Her cheeks blushed heavily, feeling bad that Goku had to carry her, “I-I’m capable of taking care of myself, I-”

“I know Chi Chi, but I don’t mind carrying you.” He said in such a sweet and loving tone that made her heart cry out.

“Th-Thank you.” She whispered, then rested her head on his shoulder and slowly closed her eyes. She could feel his heartbeat, it was soothing… which made her smile.

Behind them were Raditz and Bulma who witnessed the whole scene and gave out a wide grin and high-fived each other. They both continued to talk for a while until they got to the King’s residence. Goku slowly put Chi Chi down, she thanked him again. Both brothers said their goodbyes as they made their way home. Bulma smirked at her sister before they entered, to which Chi Chi blushed heavily. Their father was already there with dinner made, the sisters greeted their father then sat together happily for dinner before he has to go off for his trip tomorrow. So they made the best of the time they had with their father before going to sleep. 

Unbenounced to anyone that someone had sneaked behind the brothers and into their home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked the soft mini GoChi bit.
> 
> Thanks again for reading guys! and a huge thanks to my Beta! ILY!
> 
> Until next time! I'm gonna do my best to try and update more so please bear with me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thank you so much for your patience! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. The world might be going crazy right now, but at least we've got our fics and other stuff to keep us busy.
> 
> Also I know you guys have been waiting for Bulma and Vegeta to finally meet, but I promise that will happen soon. 
> 
> Now on to the next chapter!

Goku yawned loudly as he waved goodnight to his brother, making his way to his room. He was going to need all the rest he could get before starting his hard labor in the morning. Raditz took his time on his way to the restroom to freshen up when he paused in the middle of the hallway. He slowly looked over at his room where his door had a small cracked opening.

With caution, he walked inside as his eyes narrowed, scanning anything that could seem off until-

He turned around to be faced with a gun pointing straight to his face. His arms slowly raised, but he wasn’t worried or concerned. His dark eyes met with a pair of green eyes who belonged to a young, beautiful woman with long, blonde wavy hair standing before him with a wide smile on her face.

“Hey there baby girl.” He smiled back at the woman, “How long has it been?”

Launch laughed, “Too long.” 

_“Too long indeed”_ He thought to himself as he lowered his arms and did not take his eyes off of her.

Launch then threw her gun over her shoulder then pounced and wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck, kissing him. Raditz kissed her back sweetly and started to wrap his arms around her body.

In a flash, they had stripped off of their clothes and had embraced each other tightly in each other's arms. Raditz missed the sounds of her soft moans every time he touched her. She missed the way how he would hold her and run his rough hands all over her body.

“I’ve missed you, babe.” He whispered, leaving trails of kisses on her neck. 

She smiled at him, running through her fingers on his long, tangled hair, “Not as much as I’ve missed you.”

They both then laid together on the bed for a while until Launch broke the silence, “I heard about what happened to Tien and Yamcha.”

Raditz looked over with concern, “Yeah, we didn’t get to see them, but we’re going over tomorrow to say check up on them. You should come too! We were going to invite Bulma and Chi Chi to come, but they would’ve come even if we don’t ask them to. You know how they are.”

“Ya sure about that?”

Raditz nodded, “Yeah and besides the girls will be happy to see that you’re back for good.”

Her face fell, she shook her head. “Raditz, we've talked about this. I’m not-”

“I know! I’m sorry, but still you know you’re always welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. You know that right?”

She smiled softly at him, “With you around, ya always make it harder for me to leave.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and smiled. He didn’t mean to get into _that_ conversation knowing that it would upset her. The last thing he wanted was for her to leave being mad at him. Not like the last time they saw each other...

“You know we have to go to that ‘thing’ right? She needs us to report back to her sometime this week.”

Raditz rolled his eyes in annoyance, “I don’t see the point in going when we’re not even going to do much! Or do anything but just stand there and listen!”

“I know! I know! But it’ll be over soon and the plans are already being set up. Besides she did offer you help especially with the ‘you know what’.”

“Don’t remind me.” He groaned, running his hand through his long entangled hair.

There was a moment of silence between them as they held each other. He loved hearing the sound of her heart beating when they were this close together. How many times has he dreamt or imagined this moment since she left, never knowing if she would return to him alive or not. It made him feel at peace and happy to know that she is here with him and that this wasn’t a dream. Raditz smirked, moving away to face his love who gave him a curious look.

“Let’s not talk about that now. We have tomorrow to deal with that. But for now…” He held her chin with his index and thumb, making her face him. He had a hungry and lustful look in his eyes as he studied her from head to toe. “I would like to ravish you, feel you squirm beneath me and have you call out my name in pleasure.”

“Uh, as much as I’d _love_ for you to make me scream all night, don’t ya need to get up early? Also, wouldn’t your brother hear us?”

“Nah! He’s out cold! And no, he owes me like a major solid so I get to sleep in.”

They paused for a moment to hear Goku’s loud snores coming from his room across the hall.

She looked back at him with a devilish look, “Well then big boy! What are ya waiting for?”

He gave her a wicked smirk. Launch returned the smirk jumping in as the couple playfully fought for dominance with their lips then settled on a heated makeout session that escalated in a passionate sexual session throughout the whole night before finally laying each other in their arms and falling asleep.

~

The next morning, the girls woke up very early to see their father leave on his trip. The weather was slowly starting to get colder and the leaves were falling one by one. In a couple of days, it will soon begin to snow. Before he got on the carriage, he looked over at his daughters with a warm smile on their faces. He stretched out his arms, calling them in for a hug. Both girls ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug. Ox then spun them around and they all laughed together. Once they were done spinning around, Ox placed his girls down gently, “Now, my beautiful daughters, what would you both like for me to bring you this time?” 

Everytime Ox King had gone on a business trip without the girls, he would always ask them what kind of gifts to bring them. As young girls, it would sometimes be beautiful dresses, or fabrics to make dresses out of, make-up, shoes and ribbons. But as they got older, it would mostly be antiques, books, food, souvenirs from the countries and places that Ox had traveled to. Even during the times when the girls would travel with their father, it would all be different depending on where they travel to.

Both girls shook their heads, they now didn’t care about any gifts that their father brings them. What mattered is their father coming back home safely.

“We don’t need anything Papa. We only wish you to have a safe return.” said Bulma.

Chi Chi hummed in agreement.

“Aw come now girls! I don’t mind bringing you back gifts, you know that! Even if you both don’t tell me what you want I’ll still bring you something.” Ox King loved to spoil his daughters, even when they told him not to get them anything, he ignored them and continued to bring them gifts. He then looked over at Chi Chi with a smile, “I know you’ve been asking me for a copy of that new cookbook you’ve been wanting for a while from that new chef in Gingertown.”

Chi Chi blushed while shaking her head, “No! No it’s fine Papa! Really! I don’t care if I get it. Besides Gingertown is far away from where you need to go, so there’s no point in going.”

Ox King waved his hand, “It’s alright my dear! I could get it on my way back home. It’s not that far from where I’m going, honest!” He said in a cheerful manner while giving his daughter a look of reassurance.

Chi Chi gave up and huffed, she wasn’t going to win if she continued to argue with her father. “If it’s really not too much of a bother then I would appreciate it if you got it for me, Papa.”

“Of course it wouldn’t be!” He smiled widely, then focused his attention to Bulma, “What about you dear? Is there anything specific you’d like?”

Bulma shook her head, “I don’t need anything Papa, I promise! Thank you.”

“Aw come now! I’ll feel a little bad if I got your sister something and nothing for you.” He said in a sorrowful tone while giving her sad puppy eyes.

Seeing that Bulma also couldn’t win if she also continued to argue so in compliance she’ll ask for something small for him to bring her. 

“Alright then, I'd like a rose please.”

Ox King gave her a look of confusion, but shook it off, smiled then nodded, “Of course my dear! I’ll be sure to bring you your rose.” He knew how much Bulma liked roses especially when the weather is getting colder it makes it harder to buy any roses in town, let alone plant any.

Everyone said their goodbyes as Ox King hopped onto the carriage to finally make his way on his trip. He shouted at them, telling them that the trip shouldn’t take no more than a few weeks. The sisters waved goodbye to their father and waited until he was out of sight to go back to their home.

“Why a rose?” Chi Chi asked as she served them coffee, “You know you could just walk right into any flower shop and get a dozen for yourself right?”

“Yeah yeah I know. But I couldn’t think of anything for Papa to bring me back something so I thought a flower would be fine. Plus, it’s a simple gift.”

“Aw man! I should have thought of that!”

“Hey come on! You’ve been wanting to get that cookbook since it was announced. Besides, weren't you the one who wanted to try out new recipes to impress Goku with?” Bulma laughed as she saw how red her sister turned.

“Oh stop it! W-We should get going with our chores.”

“Come on Chi! There’s no need to do any chores, we’ve got plenty of time for that. Plus I was thinking that we could go out for a nice walk in the fields. And! We could also invite some certain brothers too.” Bulma winked wickedly at her sister who glared back at her, her face now completely flustered. But before Chi Chi could tell her sister anything else, there was a sudden knock on the door. Both sisters looked at each other confused, usually when one or both of the brothers came over to visit, they didn't knock on the door. They’d always walked right in, like they owned the place.

Bulma, who was the closest to the door, slowly opened it to see who it was, praying that it wasn’t one of Zarbon or Dodoria goons. Or worse, themselves!

She cracked open the door and was shocked to see who it was, “Launch!” She threw herself at the blonde woman, hugging her tightly. Chi Chi who was very happy to see their friend also ran up to her and embraced her with a hug.

“I can’t believe you're here! It’s been a while since we’ve last seen you!” Chi Chi said cheerfully as she was just as excited to see one of her oldest friends visiting them.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it.” Launch chuckled while hugging back her friends in a tight hug.

The girls welcomed their friend in, urging her to make herself at home. They all sat around together in the small living room, Chi Chi brought out tea and cookies as they all catched up.

“When did you arrive in town?” asked Chi Chi.

“Just last night, I would have arrived sooner, but I had to deal with something first.”

“So I’m guessing you’ve already greeted your boyfriend, huh?” Bulma smirked. 

Chi Chi rolled her eyes, “Of course she did! They’ve probably already spent the night together.”

Launch laughed, “What can I say? I can’t keep my hands off of him even for a minute.”

“I’ll say! You two really have been hitting it off great after the whole… you know.” Bulma blushed a little as she felt like she was getting into a touchy subject. Chi Chi even glared at her for mentioning the long forgotten topic.

Launch smiled and waved her hand, not wanting to see them feeling guilty. “Don’t worry about it Blue, I know what you mean! I’m actually really happy with how Raditz and I have been making this relationship work and that I’m genuinely lucky to have him in my life.” She sighed lovingly. “If I was still with Tien, we both would still be unhappy. But he’s moved on and so have I! There’s no bad blood between us. That’s all that matters, right?” Both girls nodded their heads in agreement. They were happy to see how much the couple had grown and made each other happy.

“So how long will you be staying this time?” Chi Chi asked quietly.

“I’m not sure? It won’t be for a while before I have to leave again.” She straightened her posture. “Now enough about me. How’re your efforts to woo Goku been working so far Chi Chi? Have you made a move on him yet?” Chi Chi began to blush harshly again. Bulma laughed loudly with Launch joining in on the laughter. 

They began to talk again for a while after Chi Chi yelled at them for mocking her. After about a few minutes of talking, Raditz arrived storming into the cottage while dragging a very tired Goku. After Chi Chi gave Goku some food, the group made their way to visit their injured friends at the hospital to check up on them. Krillin was already there talking to them as the group walked in, Tien and Yamcha had looked better now compared to the way Krillin described them yesterday, indicating that they were starting to heal at a quick rate.

As Tien talked with Goku, Krillin and Raditz; Yamcha had requested quietly to talk with Bulma alone for a while. Launch and Chi Chi looked over at each other both in awe and curiously.

For a period of time, Bulma and Yamcha had dated on and off for a few years until Yamcha called it quits then left without an explanation. Bulma was left devastated and confused, wondering what went wrong with their relationship. Then questioning if the break-up was her fault. Recalling all this information made Bulma’s heart sting a bit when he had asked to talk with her privately, she agreed and walked with him out to the hallway.

After they talked out in the hallway for what seemed like hours, Launch and Chi Chi peaked out to witness how Yamcha and Bulma were talking calmly then embraced each other in a loving hug. Both girls rushed back quietly into the room, making sure that no one noticed them spying. Once they got back, Yamcha sat beside Tien and joined in on the conversation with the rest of the boys. Both Chi Chi and Launch looked over at Bulma with curious looks on their faces waiting for Bulma to say something. Bulma only smiled at them and gave them a ‘I’ll tell you later’ look.

The gang continued to talk with both Tien and Yamcha throughout the rest of the day, the sun had already set as the gang were getting ready to leave when Krillin had asked Tien about something that piqued the gang’s interest and curiosity. The topic about a large creature that was allegedly causing some havoc in the town. Talks of hunters gathering together to find this creature and kill it were beginning to spread.

“Some of the locals are saying that there’s a large creature going around slaughtering all of the animals in the woods, as well as some farm animals. Rumors say that it's a large wolf, but others say otherwise.” said Tien.

Everyone had a face of worry on them, except for Goku and Raditz who looked at the other with a nervous sweat on their face. Raditz then changed the subject, making everyone forget about the conversation. All except for Chi Chi, who was still in deep thought about the creature and it terrorizing the woods and the townspeople. She began to rub on the left side of her neck and shoulder roughly the more anxious she came to feel. Bulma then snapped her out of her dark thoughts as the gang said their goodbyes to their friends and made their way home.

As everyone made their way back home, Launch finally broke the silence by asking Bulma what it was that she and Yamcha were talking about. Everyone then looked at Bulma, “Yamcha had finally explained to me how he felt sorry for not explaining himself and that he has finally felt at peace with who he is, I only offered him nothing but support.” Bulma smiled softly.

“Well I’m glad he was finally able to give you closure.” Chi Chi smiled.

“Oh! Are you guys talking about how Tien and Yamcha are together now?” Goku interrupted them.

“YOU KNEW?!” The girls shouted all together even Raditz was surprised at this news, they were all shocked that Goku of all people would know about this.

Goku, who had a confused look on his face, rubbed the back of his head, “Uh yeah? I thought everyone knew that? They’ve been together for a while now and it was kinda obvious that they had feelings for each other.”

“Man! Who would have thought that he’d get together with Tien.” said Launch.

“Damn! Just when I thought I had a chance with either of them.” Raditz said jokingly. Launch slap his shoulder playfully laughing at him, “As if!”

“Huh… funny how Yamcha got together with the man who broke his leg during their first battle together.” Chi Chi chuckled.

“I know right?” 

Raditz looked over at Krillin, “Did you know about this also?”

Krillin looked away shyly, “Well not at first, it wasn’t until I visited them that I realized that there was something definitely going on between them.”

The gang continued to talk over this new revelation, meanwhile Launch then stopped Raditz from walking as she gave him a serious look. Raditz nodded understanding what she meant and what needed to be done.

“Hey guys we’ll catch up to you all later, I promised Launch that I’d take her out while she’s still here. I’ll see you back at home, bro!”

“Have fun!” The sisters chimed together and giggled at the couple, Goku also smirked at his brother while giving him a thumbs up. Launch stuck her tongue out playfully at the sisters, as the couple walked away from the group. Krillin waved goodbye and went his separate way. Goku took the girls home, but knowing that the couple would be out for hours. The sisters invited Goku to stay the night at their home with the promise of sweet treats and sweet Goku agreed in a heartbeat.

~

“Is everything ready?” said a soft feminine voice.

“Yes. Soon everything will come into place” said another soft voice.

“A-Are you sure we should be doing this? Can’t there be another way that this could be handled?” said a male voice with a concerned tone.

“No… I’m afraid not. And I understand your concerns, but I’m afraid this is the only way. We have to act now before it’s too late.”

There was a short silence before a voice spoke, “What if this doesn’t work?”

“It _will_ work! We’ve waited this far, and the more we wait… who knows what could happen.”

“Alright, let’s get to work. You both know what needs to be done.”

Both of them nodded as they waited for the next instructions.

“The date has been set. In a few weeks is when the next move has to be made and by then they’ll be the ones in control. Let’s just hope it goes well in the end.”

~

Days had turned to weeks and the snow finally settled onto the ground with its soft and cold shade, as Ox King’s long trip had finished early with everything had been sorted out neatly and in order. He had thought about staying the night to get some rest before heading home, but he decided that he would get home early to surprise his daughters. Despite being told that he should wait out the night. He was too stubborn to listen and went with what his gut was telling him. He could already imagine their happy faces when they saw him returning home safely.

It began to get too dark and cold the further he traveled, and Ox King had only realized how heavily the snow was falling and that he might have traveled off the road. He continued onward even though it had been getting harder for him to see where he was going. Suddenly, there was a small crashing noise and his carriage had made a sudden stop. He got off to check what was stopping him from going forward, once he got off his shoes became completely wet. The sudden cold touch of his shoes coming in contact with the water made his whole body completely shiver. He quickly moved away to get to dry land. Ox King realized that his carriage had gotten stuck on a small pond that cracked once the wheel of the carriage came in contact. Ox King cursed himself as he was having a hard time trying to push the carriage out of the pond and the horses weren’t doing much help with the pulling, but on a closer look, the wheel had gotten frozen and had stuck together. Ox King had realized that he was in deep trouble. He was miles away from anyone who could help him and he was starting to freeze. He decided to go on foot to find a town nearby or a shelter to stay in until the storm passed. 

The storm became more and more intense. Ox King was ready to give up until he saw a small light illuminating through the heavy snow. At first, he was beginning to think that he had frozen to death and was going straight to the light of the afterlife. He shook that thought away as he felt the pain of the cold and continued to follow the light. Upon closer inspection, the small light was a small lantern and next to it was a large wooden door. He knocked on the door then waited to see if anyone would answer. 

After waiting, he pulled the door open and slowly made his way inside. Upon walking through the door, Ox King no longer felt the painful cold he was suffering. As he walked through a short path he looked up and his breath was taken away from the sight that was in front of him. In the distance, there was a large and beautiful manor that almost resembles more like a castle carved onto the mountains, even though the texture had a dark marble color. Ox King continued his way through the path while admiring the sight of the area. He could see many tall trees, smell the wild scents of various flowers and plants that were held all around the area. There were also so many statues, despite most of them being broken, they still were a work of art. Ox King felt like he had been walking for hours and was starting to grow tired. He hoped that whoever owned this land would be generous enough to help him pull out his carriage and maybe let him stay the night to rest.

He made a sudden stop, turned to the corner where there was another hidden trail that was covered behind some large bushes. Ox King pushed them back and made his way to follow the path. He didn’t know why he was making this sudden decision to go through this trail, it was almost like something was calling to him. He started to get some small scratches the more he continued to push his way through the bushes, but that all stopped when he came across an entrance. Once the Ox King went through, he was surprised to see that it was a large garden that held many rose bushes. He smiled happily as he remembered his daughter's request. He walked by one of the bushes and kneeled down to pick out one of the roses. He looked at the rose thinking how happy his daughter will be in receiving it.

But then… a large shadow hovered over Ox King. His whole body froze as he felt someone breathing down his neck and growling loudly. He didn’t want to move, yet he knew that he had to. Before he could move, his whole body was forcibly turned around as someone pounced on them, pinning his whole body to the ground. His eyes widened in shock and his whole body shook heavily as he came face to face with bright yellow eyes that pierced right through him and sharp fangs that were ready to rip him apart. Ox King prayed that this wouldn’t be the end. No it couldn’t be! Not until he could say goodbye to his beloved children one last time. And he was no coward, he stared back at this monster waiting for something to happen…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!
> 
> Thank you so much guys for reading! More to come soon! 
> 
> Everyone stay safe and have a nice day!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feliz Navidad everyone!!!
> 
> It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that, a lot has happened.
> 
> Anyways here's a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> *Warning mentions of blood and gore*

There was a soft whisper that woke her up... she opened her eyes and looked up to see the moon was full and shining brightly. The stars around the moon and sky were twinkling like little diamonds in the black sky. She sat up slowly, as she did, she checked her surroundings to see where she was.

She laid in the middle of a soft field of grass and wildflowers. There was a small river nearby where she eventually stood up to take a look at. The sounds that the water made was soft and soothing, a feeling of calm washed over her. She felt a light breeze going through her dark hair. 

A burst of laughter made her jump, she turned around to see a young woman with short hair playing around alongside the river. The woman wasn’t alone. A tall man with crazy spiky hair was staring at the woman with a soft smile on his face. As the woman let out small giggles, she kept hoping on the stones by the river. The hopping resembled flying every time she jumped. The man somehow felt familiar. He reminded her of someone she knew.

The woman suddenly slipped, the man walked over to check on her before picking her up. They smiled happily at each other lovingly before leaving, the small woman then looked at their observer and waved at her with a smile.

She was about to call the couple when they both suddenly vanished. She looked around to see where they went, but they were nowhere to be found. But then-

She looked over to see a pair of bright eyes staring at her. They were coming from the forest that was nearby. She couldn’t stop staring back at them, slowly she carefully made her way across the small river as she came closer to where the eyes were then moved away. A tall figure was shown moving away fast.

She quickly made her way into the woods and down a foggy path that seemed to be going on forever, and no matter how fast she ran, she didn’t seem to catch up to the mysterious figure. She tried calling out to them but her voice didn’t make any noise or was loud enough for the figure to hear.

Until she made a stop, she quickly realized that she was back at the same field. She checked around thinking that she might have gone somewhere else or what if she took a wrong turn but no.

She turned around to go back to the forest but stopped as she saw the dark figure coming closer towards her. Walking ahead, she could see that this figure looked like a tall dark creature that seemed to have a lot of hair all over them and a tail.

_“What is this creature?”_

She flinched as the creature turned around to see her, she then became more in shock as she seemed to have recognized who it was. But before she could say anything, the ground started to shake furiously.

She called out his name and quickly ran to him, grabbing onto his hands but took a step back as her hands were suddenly now covered in blood. Slowly looked up, she saw his eyes turning red, his mouth was dripping with blood from the sides of his mouth and his teeth were long fangs.

_“Wha-”_

Looking down there were two bodies in front of her, their eyes looking straight at her almost like they were crying for help just before they became corpses in front of this monster who ended their silent cries.

Before she could think about running away, his two hands had grabbed her by the neck and started to tighten a strong grip on her neck. As he did this, he kept staring at her with his bloody red eyes staring at her and roaring madly at her. His sharp fangs were getting too close to her face as he kept crushing her.

_“Sto-op… Pl-”_

Her cries were being muted by the sounds of the roar coming from this hideous monster who only continued to hurt her more. Blood and saliva from the monster’s mouth splattered across her face and clothes. She tried clawing her hands away from him but failed.

Just as she thought that it was all over. He started to smile wickedly then started to come closer and closer. His mouth opened widely and swallowed her whole. Everything went dark and cold...

She screamed… 

But no one was around to hear her...

Chi Chi sat up screaming at the top of her lungs, hugging herself tightly. She was completely drenched in sweat and shaking horribly. Her heart continued to beat rapidly and made herself take a couple of deep breaths before doing anything else. She started to rub her neck and shoulder roughly.

 _“Why! Why is it always this dream?”_ She silently thought, while wiping away her tears that had been pouring down her cheeks. Before she was about to get up, Bulma had burst into her room.

“What happened?!” Bulma asked in a panicked tone. She then saw how her sister looked, she realised what had happened and made her way to sit by her side.

“Was it _that_ dream again?” She didn’t need to wait long to know that she was correct. The same dream that Chi Chi had been having for a long time now. No one knew the reason for the dream, but it haunted her frequently. Both sisters have even gone to Baba to see if they could find a meaning behind the dream, but they were at a loss

Chi Chi nodded, Bulma then scooted over to give her a warm hug.

“It’s ok. It’s ok.” Bulma said in a soothing voice while rubbing her sister’s back and kept reassuring her that she was safe and there was no one there to hurt her.

“Do you want me to stay with you for a while?”

Tears started to pour down her soft face again as she nodded, “Yes please!” Chi Chi hugged Bulma tightly.

“Shh… It’s ok sis. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Bulma laid down next to her sister on her bed while continuing to hug her softly. They stayed like that for a while in silence, Bulma waited for Chi Chi to calm down before saying or making her do anything else.

“Are you feeling a little better?” Bulma asked while facing her sister.

Chi Chi nodded, giving her a warm smile. “Thank you.”

Neither of the girls were able to go back to sleep so Bulma quickly went to her room to retrieve the books that she got from Baba and began to read them to Chi Chi hoping that it would get her mind off of her awful nightmare. Once she got to the second book is when the girls became not only wide awake but also invested in the small book. 

“So this is all just about fairies? I thought that it would be more about tales and stories like the ones that Papa would tell us about.”

“Yeah this book seems more like a guide book than a story book. This holds information all about fairies or the fae, as well as pixies and a few stuff about other magical creatures.”

“Sounds kinda weird to me.”

“Yeah and the weird thing is that the author’s name is nowhere in here. Usually the author's name is always in the front of the book or in the first page, but it’s all blurred out.”

“Did you check if it was anywhere on the end pages, they’ll sometimes put them there.”

“Hmm… no I haven't.” Bulma checked the last few pages to see that there was no name, however there was a small note handwritten on the last page.

Bulma read it out loud for her sister, 

_My beloved,_

_I dedicate this novel to you as you have taught me so much about the fae since we first met. You have made me the luckiest man in this world. I am very grateful to have such a beautiful wife like you. With your golden locks, red ruby lips and shining eyes that remind me of the bright sky. You are truly my whole world._

_I can’t wait for the day when we will get to enjoy our lives with our two beautiful daughters._

_With love,_

_T.B._

“T. B.?” Chi Chi said, “The initials of the author?”

“Maybe? Who knows who this mysterious ‘T.B.’ is? ”

“Well we do know one thing for sure is that he most likely is a man.”

They would discuss more about the mysterious author for a while until both girls made the decision to go downstairs to make some tea. Chi Chi looked out into the window to see how heavily the snow had started to fall.

“Do you think Papa will make it back home safely?”

Bulma saw the worried look Chi Chi gave, she walked over to hand her her tea then sat closely to her and gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.

“Papa will be fine, Cheech. He’s dealt with far worse than a blizzard and nothing has yet kept him from coming home safely.”

Bulma put her cup down as she continued, “Remember the time when we were caught in that storm after we traveled to that one huge island?”

Chi Chi laughed, “We were so scared and we thought that we were going to die! Until Papa started to bark orders around the ship and he was able to get us out of there safely.”

So many memories that they had together as they sailed away and traveled to many places. The fresh feeling of freedom and exploration. It was the best feeling to have. Both sisters continued to talk about those memories for a long time until the sun had come up.

“Hey! Why don’t we go with Papa on his next trip? It could be our next vacation and this time we’ll get to choose where to go!”

“Yeah! Great idea B! Once Papa comes back and settles in, we could start to make plans on where we want to go.”

Both girls happily talked about their plans as they made their way to the kitchen and prepared their breakfast. As they got done with the cooking, Chi Chi stopped and looked over at the window, she smiled widely knowing who it was coming their way.

“Bulma! Papa is back!”

Both girls dropped what they were doing as they opened the door and ran out to greet their father. But they stopped in front of him, something felt off about their father. He suddenly had tears in his eyes and had started to cry as he hugged them tightly. Almost as if he never wanted to let them go. Both girls looked at each other confused, they didn’t say anything except hugged their father back and let him cry. It was rare to see their father cry like this. Chi Chi only remembered hearing that the last time her father had cried this much was when her mother had died.

Later on as they were eating, their father went back to his goofy and cheerful self which only confused the girls even more. Ox King took out his gifts for his daughter and gave it to them. Chi Chi thanked her father for the cookbook. But what came more of a surprise was the beautiful rose that Bulma was given. The rose looked lively without a single sign of withering as many of the other flowers were completely covered in snow or dead. Bulma then thanked her father for her gift and went to go put it in a small vase. 

Both sisters have tried a couple of times to ask if something had happened that made their father cry. Ox King only waved and told them not to worry as he was only feeling overwhelmed and stressed. His dismissal didn’t convince them, something had happened on his trip and they were going to find out what. There was a strange hunch that their father was hiding something serious from them that he was too afraid to speak about. They planned to confront him about it after he had settled.

That night, Ox King had excused himself from the girls, he explained that he was going out for a while. However, he had excused himself in the middle of the night which was an odd time to be going out in this hour. The girls waited for their father to leave then would follow him to where he was going.

They followed their father as he went next door to the Son’s residence, he was seen talking with someone at the front door. The girls didn’t know which of the brothers it was that their father was talking to until he moved out of the way revealing that it was Raditz. Both men made their way to the barn where the girls walked quietly to get closer and hear what their father had to tell Raditz.

As they got closer and hidden away from both of them, they were able to listen to what their father had to say and the girls were shocked by the words that were coming out of his mouth.

~

“What the fuck do you think you are doing here weakling?!”

Ox King stood up as he realized who he was facing and was in complete shock. He wasn’t sure who or what he was facing, it didn’t look completely like a man but a Beast! He was completely covered in red and black fur, had tall spiky hair, piercing yellow eyes, a tail, claws, and deadly sharp fangs. The only piece of clothing this creature was wearing were pants that were covered in dirt and tears as well as wearing leather boots.

“I won’t ask you again.” He came face to face with Ox, “What the hell do you think you are doing, trespassing here on my property and here in my garden nonetheless!”

Ox King got down on his knees and began to beg for his life, “I-I’m terribly sorry I -meant you no harm! Please I.. I only stumbled upon your beautiful garden a-and I just took one rose and-”

“So! You are a thief huh?!” The Beast grabbed onto Ox King’s shirt tightly, “You come into my own home and think that you could steal from me?!”

“N-No! No! M-My Lord I-”

The Beast growled loudly, “Don't you dare deny it old man! You are a thief and will be treated as such!” The Beast threw Ox across the field and hit the ground hard. He quickly got on his knees again to try and explain himself.

“I-I beg you to spare me! I did not mean to steal from you, I o-only got this rose for m-my daughter, you see she asked me to bring it to her.”

“I don't care about your pathetic daughter! You stole something that was precious to me and so you will face the consequences!”

Ox King was in tears and fearing for his life, “Please! Kill me or punish me if you must but please let me say goodbye to my daughters just one last time! I beg you!”

The Beast rolled his eyes as he continued to hear Ox King’s pleas until something he heard made his ears perk up.

“What?” He stood in shock as his yellow eyes widened, “What did you say?”

Ox King stuttered, taking a deep breath before speaking, “I… I said I have two daughters. Their names are Chi Chi and Bulma. They should be expecting me soon.” He bowed his head low to the creature in front of him, “Please have mercy! I’m all they have and if you must punish me please allow me to say goodbye to them once last time. And to make sure that they are well taken care of.” Ox King pleaded at the feet of the Beast. If he must die, then he shall do it but not until he sees the faces of his daughters again.

The Beast stared coldly at the man, he honestly didn’t pay attention to what the man was saying nor did he care less for what happened to him. But once he heard _that_ name dropped, he knew immediately what he wanted done.

“ _Fine_ ,” The beast groaned, “I’ll allow you to see your daughters again **one** last time. You will go see them and spend three days with them.” He raised three fingers “Once those days are over, you will come back here and face your punishment.” He turned his three fingers into one, guiding his claw to Ox King’s throat, lightly grazing across his skin, “Unless…”

“Unless?”

“You have one of your daughters take your place and face the punishment instead.”

“Never!” Ox King stood up and faced the Beast with all of his fears washed away, “I would rather die than sacrifice one of my daughters to a disgusting creature like you!”

The Beast growled angrily, he slammed his fist against a wall nearby cracking it, making the whole ground shake, “ **You** **_will_ ** **bring her to me unless you want me to kill you here right where you stand, old man!** ”

Ox King was paralyzed with fear, he didn’t want to die, but at the same time didn’t want to imagine what this Beast would do if one of his daughters were to be sacrificed to him. Before he could say or do anything else, Ox King was being dragged away by the Beast. He dragged him out of the garden and out in front of the main gates then dropped him in front of his carriage. But this time there was another horse in front of the two, it had a beautiful black coat but there was something majestic and mysterious about the horse... almost like it wasn’t real.

“I won’t take no for an answer, old man! In three days, she will come to me willingly and you won't be there with her, she is to come _alone_. That horse you see in front of you will guide her back to this place in a flash. And if you do come back, I won’t show any mercy on a pathetic man such as yourself. I will kill you with my own bare hands and I’ll have the enjoyment of licking every drop of your blood off my claws.” The Beast smiled wickedly, his face just mere inches away from Ox King’s. The stench of The Beast’s breath clouded around their faces. The Beast found pleasure seeing how Ox King had stood in complete fear and his face as pale as snow.

“Now go. I shall be waiting for you-no… for _her_ to arrive.” He chuckled, making his way inside of his large estate without seeing Ox King leave.

Ox King quickly got into the carriage, with the rose still in his tight grip, not noticing the blood dripping from his hand. The roaring laughter of the Beast still being heard as the carriage got further and further away from the castle. He closed his eyes praying that it was all a terrible dream and that he would not be dying in a few days. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was back home, he slowly got out of the carriage and looked around his surroundings.

 _“It was all a dream!”_ He thought happily to himself and sighed in relief, he turned around to make his way to his home, when he was suddenly faced with that strange horse. It was all naive hope.

The eyes of the horse turned from brown to yellow, staring at him intensely almost as if the Beast had possessed the horse, quickly reminding him of the deal he was forced to make, Ox King sighed sadly. He had already made the decision to return and face the Beast. But for now, he was going to spend the rest of his last days with his daughters. He knew he had to do some last minute arrangements to be sure that both girls would be taken care of when he’s gone. 

He looked over to see Chi Chi and Bulma’s happy faces as they saw that he had returned safely to them as he had promised. As they ran up to him, he had finally broken down. He went down on both of his knees sobbing. His daughters were bewildered about what had happened or why he was crying. He could only hold them tightly, but not too tightly to hurt them, he told them how much he loved them. Both girls were confused but still hugged their father back. A bittersweet pain ached at his heart. He already began counting how many times he would be able to hold them before he met his fate.

Later that night, Ox King had stayed up to work on his will before finally going to sleep. His dreams were also haunted by the images of the Beast as it mocked and taunted him. He knew he had to come clean before he left. How after that final night, they wouldn’t be able to see their father again. He prayed his final thoughts would be of them. His beautiful daughters: Chi Chi and Bulma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I hope you all have a pleasant day!
> 
> Another big thanks to my Beta Mari! ILY!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the moment you've all been waiting for!
> 
> *Warning small mentions of angst*

After hearing their father explain the grim situation, Bulma felt herself collapse, her heart sinking deep into her body. She felt her whole body shaking terribly, her vision blurry from all the tears that had fallen. Every inch of guilt and sadness had swelled up into her. Chi Chi noticing how upset her sister was getting, she quickly and quietly dragged her back home before anyone noticed.

Bulma was now sitting silently on her bed while Chi Chi paced around the room while loudly mumbling all about the things that both girls have just heard their father explain to Raditz what had happened.

“This is ridiculous! It has to be a trick! There is no such thing as a Beast that lives in a giant castle!” Chi Chi thought very hard, she didn’t know what to believe.

“I-It’s my fault.”

Chi Chi paused, she looked over to see Bulma in tears, shaking.

“It’s because of me! Papa is gonna die because of me!” She sobbed loudly into her palms, “I’m so sorry! If I hadn’t asked for that stupid rose, none this wouldn’t have happened” she sobbed louder, “Papa shouldn’t have to follow through that stupid deal with that **monster**! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry!”

Bulma continued to sob, burying her face further into her hands and continued to tremble. Chi Chi also felt tears coming down her face, she quickly wrapped her arms around her sister. Bulma then wrapped her arms around her. Both girls continued to hold each other tightly until they slowly collected themselves.

When hearing that their father was home, both girls quickly calmed down and dried off their faces, pretending like nothing had happened when their father came into the room. He kissed them goodnight before going into his study. After the door closed, both girls still upset decided to stay the night together to keep each other's company.

The following two days, the girls had spent as much time they could with their father, knowing it would be the last days they would have as a family. During this time, Bulma did a lot of thinking on ways to prevent her father from going through with his ‘promise’. 

When the last day arrived, their father sat the girls down, explaining what was going to happen. Even though the girls have already been completely aware of the situation, they didn’t want their father to know. Chi Chi had tried to argue with their father, but Ox King refused to back down. He kissed and hugged his girls one last time and solemnly made his way to his room.

A few hours went by, Bulma, who didn’t sleep throughout the night, had been up preparing and mentally preparing herself. She slowly left her room, taking one last glance at it before closing the door and quietly making her way downstairs. She had made her way into the hallways, put on her coat and was about to turn the doorknob before a hand grabbed her.

The other hand covered Bulma’s mouth before she could scream. Bulma looked directly at Chi Chi who looked both angry and upset.

“I can’t let you do this.” Chi Chi whispered to her and had no intention on releasing her grip on her sister.

Bulma pried Chi Chi’s hand off of her mouth then whispered back. “I have to! I won’t be responsible for the death of our father.”

“We’ll find another way! You don’t have to go alone. Let me come with you.”

“No I can’t let you do that!”

“I can’t lose you Bulma please!”

There was a small silent moment until Bulma escaped her sister’s grip and held both of her hands tightly. “Give me some time to convince that monster to let me come back a-and if I don’t… then…”

“Bulma! No! There’s got to be another way! M-Maybe we could get the guys and go after the monster and then… and-” More tears began to fall. Chi Chi pulled Bulma into a tight hug, Bulma returned the hug. She had tried so hard not to cry again, but failed.

“Girls?”

Both girls jumped as they could hear their father from upstairs. Bulma looked straight at her sister with a sad smile on her face. She gave her one last hug before she finally left.

Chi Chi ran over to the window to see Bulma making her way to the mysterious horse, she then turned away from the scene to let out a small sob.

“Chi Chi….”

She looked up to see her confused father still in his nightgown. He looked around the room then looked back at Chi Chi, “Where is Bulma?”

All she could do was shake her head and moved away from her father’s sight, “I’m so sorry Papa.” She cried softly while covering her face.

Ox King’s eyes widened in horror as he finally realized what had happened. He dashed out of the house to see Bulma with her back towards him as she rode on the mystical horse. He tried calling out for her but in a flash, she was gone. Just how the beast said it would happen.

~

She couldn’t see where she was going, everything was passing by so quickly that she couldn’t even tell what was in front of her. The ride began to start coming to a slow halt, she was grateful for as she could finally see clearly. Lifting her head, she slowly opened her eyes to see large wooden doors in front of her. The doors opened slowly, a bright light shined through, she felt a rush of warm and soft breeze touching her skin. Bulma was in complete shock at the sight that she was witnessing.

Everything that her father talked about the monster’s property now seemed so real. Bulma kept pinching herself checking if it were all a dream, but it wasn’t. She took in everything, from the sight of the estate, to the large land which was mostly covered in trees and various plants. But what caught her attention was the sight of the enormous and breathtaking manor that was carved into the mountains. Her father never told them that the manor was surrounded by water, almost like the whole place was floating in the middle of a large river of water. It all looked so beautiful!

The thought of her father and sister made Bulma sad again, she wiped away the tears swelling in her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks.

She then noticed that the horse had finally stopped in front of a small bridge that led to the front of the manor with some marble stairs. She unmounted the horse and silently thanked it before she made her way up the stairs. Upon further inspection of the manor, everything was covered in branches and moss.

“ _How long has it been like this? How is it still holding on? Is this place even stable?_ ” So many thoughts ran through her mind questioning everything and anything that she had been through, but the unkept exterior of the castle.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the doors slowly opening by itself. With no other choice, she took a deep breath and walked further up the stairs and went through the wooden doors, although these doors weren’t as large as the ones in the main entrance of the manor. 

Bulma gasped, everything on the outside of the manor had cracks, roots entangled all over the place, but inside looked completely different, it was surprisingly clean and neat. Albeit, there were a couple of cobwebs here and there, but overall it all didn’t look rundown. 

Her heart continued pounding louder and louder the further she continued walking from the lobby and up through the empty stairway. Looking up, was a giant chandelier in which its lights resembled small crystals flames. There were so many paintings hung all around the walls, many which held portraits of various people. Bulma stopped once she noticed one of the paintings, it was a handsome older man with a beard who had a serious look on his face. Beside him was a beautiful woman with long dark hair placed on one side of her shoulder, she was holding a small baby who’s hair resembled the man in the portrait. Bulma then saw a small boy who stood between the man and woman, he resembled the man greatly from his hair and his serious face. Bulma couldn't help but continued to curiously stare at the boy, just the way how he looked seems to-

“Ah!” Bulma stepped back, everything began to spin and her head started to throbbed. She hugged her head with her hands and was now on her knees. She waited until the headache was gone before she slowly got up, taking one last look at the portrait then began walking again.

Bulma continued to walk through the dark hallways until she stumbled upon various doors and each of them bearing striking similarities. Bulma now wasn’t even sure where she’s supposed to be going, her gut was telling her to keep walking and so she did. Bulma felt a chill run down her spine, feeling like she was being watched.

Suddenly a door flew open wide as if a gust of wind had pushed it open. Bulma was alarmed by the sudden noise and was hesitant to look through the door until she slowly made her way into the room. The room was enormous, it was as big-no, BIGGER than her cottage home. The room had been filled with bright colors and beautiful floral designs. Bulma couldn’t stop taking in the room around her. She continued taking in the sight, there were various amounts of furniture in the room: small tables, chairs, and the nightstand held a large hand mirror and many drawers. Bulma gasped at the size of the bed, she felt the soft silk along her finger tips, the bed looked very comfortable. Beginning to feel deliriously tired from the shock wearing off her body.

 _“I could lay here? I mean I’m guessing this is supposed to be my room right?”_ She thought to herself.

She scanned the room, making sure that no one was looking then made her way to sit on the side of the bed and laid down. Bulma moaned at how comfortable the bed felt, her eyes were slowly starting to shut.

_“I’ll just close my eyes and rest for a while. Nothing wrong with that right?”_

Bulma succumbed to her exhaustion, not waking up until the sunset was beaming through the large window. She slowly got up, stretched out her arms and let out a loud yawn. Something had caught her eye from across the room, next to the wardrobe. She got up and came close to a beautiful and expensive looking red gown, with matching jewelry, all of which was draped on a mannequin. Bulma looked around, someone had to have come into her room to bring this here. She noticed a note attached to the dress, the words were elegantly written telling her to go to the dining room and there she’ll meet The Beast.

She crumbled the letter and threw it across the room. Bulma wasn't sure what she should be feeling right now. Angry? Scared? Afraid? Excited? No! She was under the impression that going to sacrifice her life, yet, and was _now_ supposed to wear this gown for what?! For humiliation? What kind of sick game was this creature playing with her?

Bulma took a moment to collect herself and take a few deep breaths until she was more collected. 

_“Well if it’s a jester that he wants? Then that’s what he’ll get!”_

She looked over at the dress then took the time to prepare herself to dine with the Beast, knowing this night might be her last.

~

Dusk had turned into nightfall, Bulma had changed into the beautiful red gown that hugged her body with the matching jewelry as well as shoes that had seemingly appeared from thin air. She made her way through the cold and dark hallways, hoping to find the dining room where she’d finally meet the Beast.

She jumped when she heard the doors open, revealing to be the way to the dining room. The room was vast and held many more paintings and tapestries. The table was long and was decorated with numerous dishes and platters of food, enough to feed an entire town. She began to feel warmth the closer she got to the large fireplace that was placed right beside the table.

Loud banging then erupted that made Bulma yelp and stand completely still, she then felt a dark presence behind her. Her poor heart began to beat rapidly the more she felt the dark presence approach closer.

Bulma then shook her head and took a deep breath, she stood her ground not wanting to face the Beast yet.

“M-My name is Bulma, I have come to exchange my life for my father’s.” She stood straight, avoiding eye contact, then continued, “I am at your humble service my Lord. Please have mercy on me, for I am willing to take the punishment for the sins my father has committed against you.”

She waited for the Beast to answer her, she looked down to see the Beast’s shadow right next to hers. She felt his breathing travel down her neck, causing her skin to shrivel in tiny dots. She noticed the shadow of his arm stretching out and pointing at the table.

“Sit down.” The Beast commanded in his deep voice.

Bulma began experiencing a new, weird feeling other than being scared. Almost like the sound of his voice was making her body feel intoxicated. She brushed it off, it had to just be distress. As she made her way to the nearest chair of the table and slowly sat down, she sat straight as she could still feel the Beast staring at the nape of her neck silently.

Bulma swallowed, noticing how quiet it had gotten. The footsteps of the Beast loudly approaching her. _‘I cannot let my life end like this! I promised Chi Chi that I would come back!’_ She thought to herself.

The Beast began to circle around her, Bulma noticed a knife at the table. She slowly and silently began to reach for it, her heart pounding even louder and harder than before the closer she got to reaching the knife and the Beast closing the distance between them. Just as her hand finally hovered above the knife- 

The Beast’s large, calloused hand grabbed her wrist before her fingers were able to wrap around the knife. She felt the Beast’s warm, humid breath by her neck, standing above her. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She heard him growl under his breath, he tightened his grip ever so slightly.

Bulma didn’t want to look up, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her as she looked up to finally see the Beast with her own eyes. She saw the Beast himself practically towering over her, her eyes widened and felt her stomach drop and her face go pale. He was covered in red and black fur, he had tall flamelike spiky hair, a tail, along with claws and sharp fangs, a tail and he had bright yellow eyes whose sight that seemed to pierce right through her. Exactly like her father had described.

She saw her whole life flash before her eyes, her heart practically about to burst at this point.

 _‘So this is how I’m going to die, huh? Being eaten alive by a giant monkey.’_ Bulma thought to herself, tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks.

The Beast, noticing her tears, had released her wrist and turned away from her. Bulma hugged her arm close to her chest, she then wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her dress.

“You should eat. You’re going to need to regain your strength.”

“F-For what?” She answered boldly, “So you can kill me? Devour me whole?”

The Beast turned around and looked at her then shook his head, “I’m not going to eat you. I will not bring myself to hurt you either. That’s the last thing I want.”

“So.. what is it that you want from me?”

He turned to face her, then slowly made his way towards her. Bulma clenched her fingers onto the arm of the chair the closer he got, she then looked away. 

He placed his thumb and index finger on and under her chin, roughly tilting her head upwards, making her look straight into his bright eyes. “I plan to keep you here. You will keep me company and nothing more.”

“That’s it? Y-You really aren’t going to kill me?”

He shook his head and continued, “You are now living in my home and will answer to me. You are free to roam anywhere in this large mansion and in the gardens. However! You are not allowed to leave this property, and if you do escape I _will_ find you and have you locked up in your room forever for all I care. If you really want to keep your promise, you will stay here for as long as I please and I will spare your father’s life as well as your sister’s. Do I make myself clear _Bulma_?”

Her sad eyes closed, she nodded slowly.

He released his grip on her and turned away from her again. Appearing as if he was about to leave, when he paused, “I also expect you to join me for dinner every night after the sun sets.” He opened the door slowly and glanced over to Bulma one last time before leaving, “Goodnight.”

Bulma sat there in her chair for what seemed all of eternity passed in that single moment , she finally mustered enough energy to pick herself up and make her way back to her room. She was trembling terribly from her head to her toes. Tears began to fall hard from her eyes making her vision blurry. She began to run, passing several doors, until she made it to her room. A few sobs escaped her throat as she tried to work on locking the door behind her, while her hands were shaking uncontrollably. 

When she finally managed to lock her door, she finally let out a heart-shattering cry. She made her way to the bed while holding onto the nearest thing that she could get her hands on, which was a candle holder. She then quickly crawled to the far middle of the bed, with her back against the bed frame and her hands holding tightly onto the candle holder. Bulma continued to sob until she slowly felt herself getting tired. She dropped the candle holder and hugged herself tightly as she rocked herself back and forth. Soon all of her tears dried out and her tired, swollen eyes began to slowly close, she felt her body sink into the bed. The last thing her eyes saw was the beautiful stars from the window shining through the sky which made her think of her family whom she’ll never see again.

“I’m sorry Chi Chi.” One last tear fell, then closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! More to come soon!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years everyone!!! 
> 
> I hope you all have a wonderful day, and here's hope to us having a better year and future.
> 
> And once again, I wanna give a huge shout out and thanks to my Beta Mari! ILY!
> 
> Enjoy~

The night was beautiful with the moon gleaming bright, everyone in town had all fallen asleep. Well, all but some. Laughter echoed throughout the large estate, the soldiers were all getting their drink on as they partied and chatted amongst themselves. Dodoria was stuffing his mouth on all of the dishes and treats that the chefs have labored hard over preparing for everyone. Zarbon had been sitting in a corner beside Dodoria, sipping on a glass of wine. Things had been going well until a guard had rushed over to where Zarbon and Dodoria were sitting.

The man bowed as a formality to his superiors before he began to speak, “My Lords, I have some important news.”

Zarbon rolled his eyes in annoyance, “What is it? What can be so important that you interrupt our party?”

“M-My apologies my Lord,” The guard stumbled his words in intimidation, “But there was someone at the door a-and I couldn’t turn them away and-”

“What are ya going on about you idiot?!” Dodoria interrupted the guard, mouth absolutely gorged with food. Saliva and food practically flying out of his mouth with every word.

“M-My Lord, I couldn't! I...I!” The guard stuttered. 

“Who gave you the right to let just anyone enter here? Huh!? Are you completely stupid? Why I oughta-”

Dodoria was silenced by a bright blast that was inches away from hitting his head. Dodoria was suddenly now on one knee as he soon realized who the ‘someone’ the guard was referring to. Every soldier in the large room froze and looked over to see an annoyed Frieza.The rest of the party followed suit by bowing and getting down on one knee. Zarbon chuckled and smirked to himself completely unphased to what had just happened. He uncrossed his legs and stood up from his chair and bowed to their guest.

“Lord Frieza, it is an honor to have you in our presence.” His body still tilted and right hand on his heart.

Frieza stood still with a serious look on his face, he walked past the many soldiers bowing to him and stood in front of Dodoria. Dodoria completely drenched in sweat, he slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting Frieza’s. Before he could say anything Frieza kicked him hard in the stomach sending him flying across the room, hitting a wall and slowly sliding hard on the floor. Zarbon was holding his laughter, continuing to keep his head low until Frieza had called him over.

“I trust everything is going smoothing, Zarbon?”

“Of course my Lord.”

“And how’s our little Prince doing?”

“Still alone and shut away, exactly how you left him.”

“Good.” Frieza walked over and sat himself on the chair that Dodoria had occupied, a servant had walked over already offering him a glass of wine.

“There’s still so much that needs to be done and schedules to be planned. I expect everyone to do their part to make it all perfect, am I clear?”

“Of course my Lord!” Zarbon gave him a small bow before leaving, but not before dragging Dodoria’s body out of the room.

Frieza sipped on his wine then turned over to the soldiers, “Cui!” He shouted.

“Yes Lord Frieza!” Cui saluted.

“I have an important job that I need you to do.”

~

The sunlights brightness radiated through the open window, fresh air entered from the gentle breeze outside. The songs of the singing birds traveled throughout the room. Bulma slowly opened her tired, puffy eyes. After the night before, she didn’t feel like getting up and contemplated whether or not she should stay all day in bed. She didn’t have the energy to get up and travel the castle, let alone take the risk of running into the Beast.

A smell had permeated through her room, the familiar scent of food grazed Bulma’s nose. A large breakfast tray was placed right beside her bed, with plates of fresh bread, eggs, bacon, hot tea with a small vial of honey and other various little snacks, as well as a bowl of strawberries. Bulma would have been happy to see a wonderful sight if she wasn’t overcome with an overwhelming feeling of rage.

 _“D-Did… Did he come into my room?!”_ Bulma thought angrily and in disgust. She forced herself to get out of bed and check the doors to see if they had been unlocked, but they weren’t. The doors were still locked and completely shut from within.

 _“How?”_ She wondered while looking around the room thinking how the Beast could have entered her room when the doors were still locked. She then walked over to the large window to see that there was no way that he could have climbed through the window as the view from below was very high.

Bulma gave up and made her way to the mountains of plated food, she wasn’t sure if she should eat any of it. But her loud stomach had other plans, remembering that she hadn’t eaten anything last night for dinner. She reached over for a small strawberry, her favorite fruit in the world, but a small twinge of hurt stabbed at her heart. How could she comfortably eat knowing that her family was mourning their loss of her. Their loss to the Beast of all people. A small tear welled in her eye.

The strawberry had caused Bulma to recall the story of _Hades and Persephone_. She recalled that Persephone had ingested six arils of the pomegranate and by eating it she was bound to the Underworld and became Hades's wife and queen. Forever staying half of the year in the Underworld and the rest of the year above the mortal world.

 _“Is that how I’m going to end up?”_ Bulma thought. _“Am I to be bound to the Beast and to this place as my own Underworld for the rest of my life?”_

Soft tears fell from her eyes, she dipped the strawberry in the honey then placed it to her lips and ate it whole. Hunger overcame her as her stomach growled for more food, Bulma really started to dig into all of the foods and ate everything until she was completely full. She sighed happily, feeling relieved for enjoying a good meal. She then giggled to herself as she thought to how this might be the same feeling that Goku had after eating mountains of food that Chi Chi had prepared especially for him.

That little reminder made her sad again, dark thoughts began clouding her mind. She’d never be able to see her father and sister again. How will she ever forgive herself for not saying a proper goodbye to her father and leaving while Chi Chi was in tears and heartbroken. Is this really how it would all end?

Bulma took a deep breath and shaked away all those thoughts and stood up, “No, I can’t give up yet! Maybe I can find a way to convince the Beast to let me go? I’ve got to at least try.”

Her confidence came back as did her strength. Bulma wasn’t ready to give up that easily.

~

Raditz wiped the sweat from his forehead, all of his muscles felt sore and was beginning to feel tired. He and Goku just got done delivering the last grains to the markets before closing down for the season, the brothers had been working on since the beginning of the year. 

The weather had started to get a little rough with strong winds blowing everything down and the snow beginning to pile up. It began getting difficult to travel regardless if it was by foot or horse. Noticing that the weather was going turning ugly, he called over to Goku that they had to leave immediately or they’d be stranded in the middle of a terrible snow storm.

Once the brothers had gotten home, they didn’t have the energy to go upstairs to their respective rooms but instead sprawled across the wooden floor of the living room to relax for a while and stared at the ceiling.

Goku then spoke up. “Hey! Where did Launch go?”

“She went to go in the barn to get some things for dinner tonight.”

“Ah yeah! I like her cooking. Although not as much as Chi Chi’s though. Oh!” Goku got up from the floor and moved to sit down on the sofa. “Speaking of Chi Chi. I wonder if Ox King is back yet? He should already be back by now right? I haven’t heard from Bulma or Chi Chi either, they usually hang out with us once Ox gets back right?”

Raditz shrugged, “Who knows bro, they probably wanted to spend some time together as a family before coming over.”

“Oh yeah!”

Raditz then smirked, “Don’t worry lil bro, you’ll see your little girlfriend soon.”

“Yuck! I don’t have a crush on Bulma! She’s like a sister to me!”

Raditz scoffed at his brother. “I wasn’t talking about- Ugh! Nevermind, idiot! Just stop talking for now, I wanna rest my eyes for a minute.”

He started to close his eyes when Goku interjected.

“Hey Raditz!”

Raditz whined loudly. “What now Kakarot?!”

“I-I’m sorry. C-Can you tell me more about Mom and Dad please?”

His eyes shot open, he was surprised that Goku had even wanted to talk about their parents. He then sat up and moved to face his brother. 

“I-It’s been a while since we last talked about them. I mean you rarely like talking about them as much as I do.”

“Yeah I know. I just- you have more memories of them while I don’t. We got on the topic of Ox King, Bulma, and Cheech. It got me remembering the other day; I was trying to remember if I could recall anything about them. But so far, I’ve got nothing. And it’s been getting really hard to remember anything about them other than what you and Grandpa used to tell me about them.”

Goku’s face fell the more he thought about his inability to remember anything of his parents. He couldn’t lie that he was just a little jealous of his brother being able to have memories of their parents and knowing how they looked. All he had was just verbal descriptions.

Raditz gave him a sad but soft smile. “Don’t worry about it bro. We can talk about them as much as you’d like.”

“Thanks bro.”

They spent most of the majority of their time on the floor just talking about their parents from what Raditz can remember and from what their Grandpa Gohan used to know. They didn’t realize how much time they spent talking when they began to smell the aroma of food coming from the kitchen and made their way there. Launch had already arrived home hours ago and was cooking dinner, she didn’t want to interrupt them so she continued with the preparations.

“Maybe I should go over tomorrow and check on how the girls are doing.” Goku said while stuffing his mouth with bread rolls and steak.

“Uh.. Maybe you should wait a while for this storm to pass, bro. It doesn’t look safe to be going outside. Wait a couple of days before heading over.”

“Yeah you're right. Besides it’s not like something bad is gonna happen right?”

~

Bulma spent the rest of the day in her room until it was time to go to dinner and face the Beast once again. She picked out a green dress from the wardrobe to wear for tonight’s dinner. Bulma couldn't lie, all of the dresses inside the wardrobe were all gorgeous and colorful. There were many matching pairs of shoes to wear each and every dress, as well as the boxes of jewelry to complement the gowns. 

_“I wonder, where did the Beast get all of these expensive gowns and jewels? Did he kill the previous owners of this land and took it for himself? Or is he truly the owner of everything?”_ Bulma thought to herself. 

Bulma had so many questions about the place. However, as much as she would love to go back home to her family, she couldn’t help but feel curious about the history and secrets that the place held. She wondered why hadn’t anyone else known about the place besides herself, her father and sister? All the questions made Bulma’s curiosity grow larger and larger. She longed to learn more and wondered what she would need to do to retrieve as much information she could. With or without the Beast.

~

Bulma made her way down the hallway and followed the candle lights that were leading her to the dining room. Almost as if it was purposely lit to prevent her from getting lost again. As soon as she entered the dining room, she spotted the Beast already seated. A wave of fear rushed over her body, she looked at the clock to check the time, fearing she had been late.

“You’re not late.” The Beast reassured her, “You’re right on time. I simply just arrived early this time.” 

He glanced over at her and smirked.

“You look lovely with that dress on, but to be honest, I prefered you in the red dress that you had on last night,”

Bulma nodded at his unsolicited comment, not wanting to come across as rude. She made her way and sat across from him. She began eating her meal then noticed that the Beast wasn’t eating.

“You’re not eating?”

He shook his head. “I already ate.”

“When?”

“A couple of hours ago.”

“Oh? What did you eat?”

“That doesn’t concern you. Just eat your damn food.” He snapped.

 _“What an asshole! Just wanted to do small talk instead of just sitting here in awkward silence!”_ A small pout formed on her lips.

“If I may be so bold as to ask, why join me for dinner if I’m the only one eating?”

“To keep you company.”

“Aw! Are you afraid I’ll try to run away if I am left alone.”

“Tch! Like you can escape from me.”

“I could if I tried.” She replied with a snarky little smile, her nose pointed up.

“Highly doubt it.”

Bulma smirked, finding herself amused with the way she’s easily able to annoy the Beast. She then proceeded to ask him question after question.

“You ask too many questions!” He slammed his hand on the table.

“Oh! I’m sorry, do you just want me to sit still and stay quiet like a good girl?” She fluttered her eyelashes. Her demeanor was completely different from the night before.

He glared at her. “Don’t get all smartass with me! What kind of improper woman are you to behave like such a child.”

“The kind that was taught to do whatever she wanted and not have to deal with assholes like you!”

“Well too bad, cause you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life woman.”

“Well I don’t plan on staying here for the rest of my life!” She stood up from her seat. “You don’t think I know what kind of game you’re trying to play? But if you think for **_one second_ ** that I am going to be your prisoner for my entire life, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

He continued to stare her down until he finally spoke, “Are you done? Are you done with your literal tantrum?”

“Are you fucking serious?! I’m done! I want to leave and I certainly don’t want to stay in a place where I’m going to be stuck with a complete asshole of a stranger, _like you_ , forever!”

The Beast glared at her, Bulma stood her ground as he got up and began to approach her. Literally towering over her.

“You really don’t remember me do you?”

“N-No... I don’t. Am I supposed to?”

Bulma gasped when he grabbed her face with his hand, she could feel his sharp claws lightly pierce against her soft skin. His eyes narrowed scanning her whole face.

Bulma then slowly pushed him away from her. “Why, do I need to know you?

“You really don’t know...” He responded, slightly disappointed.

Bulma was a bit shocked, one second the Beast had a scowl and his eyes full of anger, and in another second, his face showed disappointment with his eyes now full of sorrow. She almost felt pity for him.

“Look.. I’m sorry that I can’t remember you. I wish I knew, but please.. I- I just want to go home.”

“I’m not letting you leave. Not ever!”

“Then why? I clearly don’t remember you, there’s absolutely no need for me to stay here! Why can’t I just go?”

“I’m never letting you leave, do you hear me!?” He roared, grabbing her from her chin and inched closer to her face. He let the feeling of possession seeped out his heart and into his veins, “You will keep your end of the bargain, and I will keep mine. I haven’t caused any harm onto you nor do I really plan to. So you are going to be nice and stay here, understand!?”

She glared back at him. “Fine! I’ll be a good girl and stay here with you.”

“Good.” He let her go and turned away from her to leave.

Bulma hadn’t been sincere in her sudden act of submission. She had to play along for now, but it didn’t deter her from beginning to brainstorm her great escape. She knew she would have to manipulate and deceive the Beast. ‘How’ was the first hurdle.

“Wait!”

He stopped in front of the door, his hand on the handle refusing looking back at her. “What?”

“C-Can you at least tell me your name. Please?”

There was a moment of silence before he looked back at her over the shoulder and spoke. “It’s Vegeta.” 

He then opened the door and stormed away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading!
> 
> I also wanna take this time to tell you all how much I appreciate all the love and support I am given. I really am grateful for it.
> 
> I love you all!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. This is my first fanfiction work that I have ever done, so I'm hoping I did a great job.
> 
> A big shoutout and thanks to my beta reader @madlymari_ for helping me with the editing. I love you so much nena!


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